Dark Side of Visionary Leadership in Strategy Implementation

Dark Side of Visionary Leadership in Strategy Implementation

How does visionary leadership influence the achievement of strategic goals? The authors of this article examine the influence of visionary leadership of mid- and lower-level managers on the strategic impact of their teams.

The management literature praises visionary leadership. The authors of this article examine the influence of visionary leadership of mid- and lower-level managers on the strategic impact of their teams. The management literature praises visionary leadership. However, this article reveals the dark side of it. The theoretical framework suggests that visionary leadership of team managers harms the team’s strategic consensus when the manager is not strategically aligned with the CEO, which in turn reduces the team’s commitment to strategy.

In contrast, when a team manager is strategically aligned with the CEO, the team manager’s visionary leadership is positively related to the team’s strategic consensus and subsequently to the team’s strategic commitment.

Data from 136 teams from two organizations supports the moderated mediation model. An additional substantive analysis of strategic consensus and additional qualitative interviews with managers and employees in one of these organizations provide additional insights into the meaning of the theoretical relationships in practice.