Recognizing Social Distance in Visionary Leadership Communication: A Potent Prescription for Organizational Health

Healthy organizations have visionary leaders who both inspire and empower members to work together toward a common vision. This research advances scholarship on business communication by demonstrating organizational leaders’ transforming impact on followers is strengthened when they adjust their communication behavior based on the social distance between the leader and follower. A new communication-centric visionary leadership communication scale builds on the seminal transformational leadership theory and delineates which communication behaviors are best enacted by a distant executive versus a close immediate supervisor. The new scale demonstrates establishing the need for action and exemplifying a willingness to sacrifice are the most impactful communication behaviors a leader can perform to influence followers’ integration of the organization’s vision. Surprisingly, they are even more essential than effectively articulating what the vision is. Moreover, they are most effective when enacted by a socially distant leader. Business communication practitioners charged with advising executives on internal communication strategy can use this tool to help their leaders tailor vision-related messages in a manner that transforms employees into contributing members of a healthy organization.