Master Program Entrepreneurship and Tourism

Course of studies:

Strategic Leadership

Topic:

In what way can leaders be defined as social architects? In what way and to what extend can a vision and a mission statement affect the way leaders are perceived by their coworkers?

Presented by:

Julian Ramsch

Presented to:

Dr. Claudia Mssenlechner

Date of Submission:

June 17th, 2013

Leaders as social architects? How do vision and mission statement affect leader perception?

Leaders as social architects and the effect of vision and mission statements on the perception of leaders
The tasks and responsibilities of leaders have changed over the last years. The social component of their work is now more important than ever and can mainly be viewed from two perspectives.

First, leaders are social architects within their company concerning co-workers and employees. Nowadays, employees are no longer satisfied with just working. They need to find meaning and pride in their work as well as be able to see their role in the bigger picture to be adequately motivated. This requires leaders to communicate their vision to everybody in the company clearly and in a way that everybody understands. In case the vision is a compelling one and it is also clearly lived through corporate culture, it can have an energizing effect on employees which enhances their work and life quality. Nevertheless, a vision is not only reserved to the company as a whole. In order to develop the employees and foster their personality and skills it is helpful to let them develop or simply discover the vision they have for their own future. By indicating how personal and company visions might match, people will feel more enthusiastic about their work. This is especially important regarding the fact that people generally want to feel important and participate in a success story to their best possible extend to see that they are able to contribute. However, this leadership style demands for highly developed listening and communication skills as well as a very close connection between the leader and his employees and co-workers (Daft, 2008).

Second, leaders are social architects regarding their responsibility towards the environment as it is an idealistic belief that they should contribute to its continuous improvement. As leaders typically communicate visions of a better world, they motivate people to help take the company to the point where this ideal future can become reality. This shows that leaders, by recognizing their important role and the chance they are given, have the possibility to create a better community through giving their best at work. Although many companies have the vision to solve social problems and imbalances, it is especially the non-profit organizations that focus on this aspect; either because it is their core business and reason for existence or because an idealistic vision is more important if traditional measures for success (i.e. profit) are not relevant (Daft, 2008).

Leaders as social architects? How do vision and mission statement affect leader perception?

As already shown in the paragraphs above, a compelling vision and mission statement is crucial to the success of a company. As the leader is responsible for developing, communicating and living these principles, they heavily influence the way he is perceived by his co-workers and employees. People naturally feel attracted to leaders who have a clear vision of the future shall and a plan of how to achieve it. They will more likely be inspired by their example and follow them. If they feel that they can trust the leader and are committed to the company, they will try to support the strategy the leader has shown in his vision and work harder for the success. In his role, the leader is the person connecting all team members and uniting them to reach a certain goal. Therefore, hope is set on him, which additionally motivates the employees to contribute to his work. Furthermore, the leader is not only formulating a vision but he is also responsible for the strategy, meaning he has to translate the ambitious view of the future into tasks and goals for every team member so that they know what they can contribute. Thus, he is the connector between the intangible vision and the more tangible tasks and goals (Daft, 2008).

As the mission statement contains the core values and purpose of the company, leading according to them is crucial for a leader. The way he does or does not stick to the principles formulated in this statement may define him in the eyes of the employees. His integrity, credibility and thus, finally the ability to lead his people is strongly dependent on his attitude towards the mission statement representing also the values of the employees (Daft, 2008).

Concluding, it is evident that a leader is a social architect within his company as well as for the environment. In his work he is, therefore, very important for his employees and the society. The way he is perceived by his co-workers and employees is then again very much influenced by the vision and mission statement.

Leaders as social architects? How do vision and mission statement affect leader perception?

Bibliography
Daft, R. L. (2008). The leadership experience. (4th edn.) 387 419, Thomson Higher Education: Mason, OH.