Psychology and Leadership: Vision and Adjustments

The Vision Leadership Styler
People with the Vision Style are dynamic, energetic risk-takers who inspire, encourage, and motivate followers with their optimistic commitment to a long-range vision. Vision leaders attract followers with their ability to paint a vivid picture of the future.

Flexible and enthusiastic, individuals with this style tend to be open to new opportunities and courses of action, whatever those may be; for them, the failure of any particular direction, plan, or strategy is only a temporary setback. How they get where they are going is less important than getting there—so they will quickly regroup, find a new plan, and move forward. With their long-term goal constantly in sight, Vision leaders motivate others to join them with, sweeping them up in their excitement and commitment to action.

Examples of Vision leadership in the real world are easy to find because their combination of daring and charisma make such leaders highly visible. In the political realm, Vision leadership can be seen in Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., A

Richards and Barbara Jordan. Actors George Clooney and Angelina Jolie exemplify Vision leadership, as do military leaders General Douglas MacArthur, Colin Powell, and Sioux war chief Crazy Horse.

The Adjustments Leadership Styler
People with the Adjustments Style lead by educating. These leaders tend to possess an enormous catalog of knowledge, which they share willingly when the situation calls for it. Rather than jumping in and taking charge of every situation, individuals with the Adjustments style prefer to sit back and observe until those who need their expertise are ready to receive it.

A great leadership strength of the Adjustments style is the ability to patiently show people how to respond clearly and thoughtfully to events and situations. Adjustments leaders possess a wealth of relevant detail and perceive connections that others almost invariably miss. Their calm and unhurried manner, meticulous research, and dedication to pursuing the wisest course of action attracts followers who appreciate the patient confidence they bring to leadership roles.

Adjustments leaders do not often seek the spotlight, but are propelled into it by their followers. In the political realm, there are three U.S. presidents whose public behavior suggests that they possess the Adjustments style: George H. W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, and Barrack Obama. Other examples of Adjustments leadership include Julia Childs and Meryl Streep.

*It is impossible to determine another’s Perceptual Style (PS) by observation alone. This is especially true for public figures. The examples provided ‘appear’, based on their public behavior, to be the PS for which they are used as examples. However, without a complete Perceptual Style Assessment, their particular PS is simply an educated guess.