CASCADING YOUR VISION THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Transcription

1 CASCADING YOUR VISION THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION Three steps for By Professor Robert Hooijberg and Research Associate, Nancy Lane (January 2008) IMD Chemin de Bellerive 23 PO Box 915, CH-1001 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: Fax:

2 Leaders need to pay significant attention to and get broad involvement in three stages of the vision creation and dissemination process. First, they need involvement in the creation of the vision and buy-in from the senior levels. Second, when cascading the vision down the organization, they need to allow for real discussion and input. Third, leaders need to track effectively and assess the impact of the vision implementation. Leading through vision Economic exchanges to motivate people to follow a vision are not enough and assume that followers react only to carrots and sticks. While it works, it is less effective than leadership based on vision, charisma or other emotional-based influencing processes (Lowe et al 1996). Leaders can better effect follower commitment and positive organizational outcomes by exercising three distinct and complementary leadership styles (Antonakis and House 2002; 2004): 1. Transformational leadership, which refers to value-based, visionary, inspirational, emotional, intellectually stimulating, and charismatic leader actions, predicated on the leader s symbolic power. 2. Transactional leadership, a quid pro quo influencing process based on reward and coercive power. 3. Instrumental leadership, centered on strategic use of the organization s systems, structures, and processes. While this will mean a greater upfront investment in terms of time and energy compared to the coerced-contagion approach, it also creates more energy, ideas, and followthrough. We contend that successful cascading leadership depends on generating a sense of ownership of the vision throughout the company. This process takes place in three stages: Setting the stage, cascading the vision and key strategies, and assessing the impact of the cascading process. IMD - CASCADING YOUR VISION THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION Page 2/5

3 Creating a vision and generating attention for it The effectiveness of the leader s vision (CEO plus top management team) is based on the leaders ability to influence their direct and indirect employees and other stakeholders to follow. They must trust the leader. Yet the trustability of the leader is an important but not sufficient condition for effective cascading of the vision. The leader needs to demonstrate that he or she understands the ins-and-outs of the industry, the sentiments of the collective group and that their sentiments are expressed in the vision. If the leader manages to do this, the vision starts to act as the glue that binds the future ideals of the leader and the followers. Essentially, the leader s vision acts as a road map for resource mobilization, and includes the following three stages: 1. Setting the stage for vision creation In this phase, the top leadership team formulates the vision for the company as well as the broad implementation parameters. The team seeks advance inputs from relevant internal and external experts as well as relevant stakeholders to guide it in the formulation of its vision. The subsequent analyses will result in various possible images of the future of the company. Next, for the best introduction, they need to use analogies, metaphor, stories, or any other mechanisms. These make the vision into a picture that the followers can see and feel, and which will implicate follower action (Den Hartog and Verburg 1997). The team also needs to identify the key challenges or must win battles. All members of the leadership will need to give their emotional commitment to this vision as the organization must see a united management team if the process is to succeed. This is the time to convince team members why the vision is important and to identify key strategic initiatives necessary to make it happen. IMD - CASCADING YOUR VISION THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION Page 3/5

4 2. Cascading the vision and key strategies Sharing the vision in its broad sense represents only a small part of the cascading process. Other channels of communication need to be identified and used, such as dialogue with the next level of management and setting measurable objectives. Here the vision is translated into concrete actions, plans are created, and milestones are set. These milestones provide the cornerstone for the next stage. 3. Assessing the impact of the cascading processes People will know you are serious when you hold reviews and assess them against stated objectives. Leadership therefore has to review and, where necessary, adjust and adapt the HR systems, processes, and structures. Conclusion A cascading process done well will lead to an emotionally and intellectually engaged and focused organization. It will result in an organizational culture where people face reality, hold open and honest dialogue, take ownership of key initiatives, support each other, and both hold each other accountable and expect to be held accountable for results. Professor Hooijberg teaches on the following programs: Low Cost Competition (LCC), Program for Executive Development (PED) and Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP). IMD - CASCADING YOUR VISION THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION Page 4/5

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