1. Jeff Warren
Senior Research Project Presentation
Fall-II-2015-OLCU-487-OL1
Professor Ian Grimbaldeston
Brandman University

2.  Leaders in today’s workplace face many challenges
and situations that create turmoil within their
organizations. One of their greatest challenges is
creating a solid vision for their company.
 How do successful leaders convey their thoughts
and ideas that make up their vision of an
organization’s future to others to help ensure or
promote organizational success?

3.  Purpose - To examine literature regarding the
approach that effective leaders use to best
communicate their visions of an organization’s
future to others
• RQ1-How best do leaders communicate to others that their
vision of a company’s future is worthy of that
organization’s resources and efforts?
• RQ2- What impact on organizational success does effective
vision communication have?

4.  Leaders should first invest time and effort developing
their vision prior to communicating it
• Foundation for communicating a vision
 Executing the vision communication depending on the
audience
• Convince others to follow your plan
 Visions must evolve as conditions dictate
• Understanding Micro and Macro Situational Awareness
 Success is Difficult without a Good Vision
• Want org success? Then you need a good vision
 Not all Successes are Achievable
• even with good vision and comm., success is not guaranteed

5.  Getting people to follow a vision is challenging
 Vision communication is quite different from
convincing others to accomplish short-term goals
 Effectively Communicating a vision is a skill
 A good vision can greatly increase the chances of
org success
 A well executed vision and comm. Does not
guarantee org success

6.  Leaders Should…
• Invest in the Vision’s Development
 Time, research, thought, foresight,
 understanding current micro and macro situations
• Execute the Vision’s Communication Effectively
 Know your audience, understand their motivations
 know your strengths and weaknesses as a
communicator
 Use two-way communication

7.  Leaders Should…
• Successful Visions Usually Evolve
 Situations change- technology, competitors, laws,
business environment
 Remain flexible and constantly reevaluate the vision
• Understand that Failure is not necessarily Due to the
Vision’s Failure
 Sometimes circumstances are unforeseeable,
unplannable
 Successful leaders learn from failures too

8.  Appelbaum, S., Carrière, D., Chaker, M., Benmoussa, K., Elghawanmeh, B., & Shash, S. (2009). Rx
for excessive turnover: lessons in communicating a vision (part 1). Industrial & Commercial Training,
41(5), 238-247. doi:10.1108/00197850910974785
 Berson, Y., Halevy, N., Shamir, B., & Erez, M. (2015). Leading from different psychological
distances: A construal-level perspective on vision communication, goal setting, and follower
motivation. The Leadership Quarterly, (2), 143. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.07.011
 Carton, A., Murphy, C., & Clark, J. (2015). A (blurry) vision of the future: how leader rhetoric about
ultimate goals influences performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 1015(1), 10-36.
doi:10.5465/amj.2012.0101
 Farrell, M. (2015). Long Term Vision Creates Perspective. Journal Of Library Administration, 55(2),
121-130.
 Kotter, J. (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, (11), 85.
 Kotter, J., & Schlesinger, L. (1979). Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review
 Kohles, J., Bligh, M., & Carsten, M.. (2012). A follower-centric approach to the vision integration
process. The Leadership Quarterly, 23476-487. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.12.002
 Manning, T. (2012). Managing change in hard times. Industrial & Commercial Training,44(5), 259.
doi:10.1108/00197851211244997
 Mayfield, J., Mayfield, M., & Sharbrough, W. C. (2015). Strategic Vision and Values in Top Leaders’
Communications: Motivating Language at a Higher Level. Journal Of Business Communication,
52(1), 97-121. doi:10.1177/2329488414560282