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408 PART 5: THE LEADER AS SOCIAL ARCHITECT
The Leader’s Contribution

Although good leadership calls for actively involving everyone, leaders are still
ultimately responsible for establishing direction through vision and strategy.
When leadership fails to provide direction, organizations fl ounder. Consider
the example of Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), which was founded as
a sporting goods store selling serious gear for serious outdoor
Action Memo
enthusiasts. In recent years, leaders decided to spur growth by
appealing to a broader array of customers, selling fl eece jackets,
Strategic management is one of the most
khaki slacks, and cotton sweaters to soccer moms and dads. In the
critical jobs of a leader, but leaders may
process, EMS lost most of its core customers and became nothing
exhibit different strategy styles that can
more than a fuzzy also-ran in the outdoor retail industry. Since Will
be effective. Leader’s Self-Insight 13.3 lets
Manzer came in as CEO, he has been striving to provide EMS with
you determine your strengths based on two
a more coherent and focused strategic direction. “EMS wasn’t safe,”
important ways leaders can bring creativity
to strategic management.
Manzer says. “It wasn’t clear and it wasn’t differentiated. If we’re not
precise in our answer to the outdoor athlete, then we mean nothing
to anybody.” 64
Stimulating Vision and Action
In the waiting lounge of a fine lakeside restaurant a sign reads, “Where there is

no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” The owner explains its
presence there by telling the story of how his small, picturesque village with
its homes and businesses was sacrificed to make way for a fl ood-control project.

After losing their fight to reverse the decision, most business leaders simply let

their businesses decline and die. Soon, the only people who came to the village did
so to eat at the cheery little diner, whose owner became the butt of jokes because
he continued to work so hard. Everyone laughed when he chose to open a larger
and fancier restaurant on the hill behind the village. Yet, when the fl ood-control
project was finally completed, he had the only attractive restaurant on the edge of

a beautiful, newly constructed lake that drew many tourists. Anyone could have
found out, as he did, where the edge of the lake would be, yet most of the busi-
ness owners had no vision for the future. The restaurant owner had a vision and
he took action on it.
Hopes and dreams for the future are what keep people moving forward.
However, for leaders to make a real difference, they have to link those dreams
with strategic actions. Vision has to be translated into specifi c goals, objectives,
and plans so that employees know how to move toward the desired future. An old
English churchyard saying applies to organizations as it does to life:

Life without vision is drudgery.
Vision without action is but an empty dream.
Action guided by vision is joy and the hope of the earth. 65

Exhibit 13.8 illustrates four possibilities of leadership in providing direc-
tion. Four types of leaders are described based on their attention to vision and
attention to action. The person who is low both on providing vision and stimu-
lating action is uninvolved, not really a leader at all. The leader who is all action
and little vision is a doer. He or she may be a hard worker and dedicated to
the job and the organization, but the doer is working blind. Without a sense of
purpose and direction, activities have no real meaning and do not truly serve the
organization, the employees, or the community. The dreamer, on the other hand,
is good at providing a big idea with meaning for self and others. This leader may