What’s a Leadership Vacuum, and How to Overcome It?

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis

Every collective requires a leader to succeed. It can be a soccer team or a group of students working together on a project. Leadership holds team members together and works as motivation. The same goes for business as well. And that’s why a leadership vacuum in your company can be a worry.

A leadership vacuum affects your entire workforce. The key is to identify it as quickly as possible and work on filling it.

But what exactly is a leadership vacuum? And how will you know if there’s a leadership vacuum in your company? Well, there are signs you need to watch out for.

So, are you worried about a lack of leadership in your company? Don’t worry; we will talk about everything you need to know about it. Let’s first discuss a bit about what a leadership vacuum is.

What Is a Leadership Vacuum?

We have already discussed how important leadership is. It is the backbone of a team or an organization. And the bigger the organization is, the more leaders it needs at different levels. And a leadership vacuum at any of these levels can be disastrous.

A leadership vacuum can occur in various scenarios. First of all, it occurs when there are no leaders at all. Secondly, it occurs when the designated leader fails to lead with conviction. And it can also happen when the senior leadership is at loggerheads with one another.

As a result, no leadership trickles down, and the group lacks motivation. If a team is suffering from a leadership vacuum, its members don’t share a common goal. And if everyone doesn’t share a common goal, it defeats the purpose of working as a team.

In a nutshell, a leadership vacuum is the lack of solid leadership. It can be because of any of the above scenarios. That’s why organizations need leaders who lead by example. Leaders who earn the moral authority to lead can do wonders for an organization.

Leaders That Influence

There are different types of leaders in the world. Some of them are leaders only by their position. Others lead by the influence they have on the team.

Say there’s a senior manager who knows how to instill motivation in the workforce. He expects the employees to give their all and works his heart out at every project. He leads by example and supports his team members when they need it. His team members admire him and look up to him.

He’s an example of a leader who influences people. He doesn’t lead because he is a senior manager. Instead, he is a senior manager because he knows how to lead.

The lack of such leaders is a problem many organizations face today. And they fail to identify the reason why their organization has a leadership vacuum.

How to Know if There’s a Leadership Vacuum in Your Company?

When you enter a workplace, you can feel the vibe. Some workplaces are buzzing with energy and enthusiasm. Some will have employees with red eyes on the verge of taking a nap. And good leadership has a lot to do with how driven your workforce is.

How driven do essential members of your workforce seem? Are they late to work now and again? Are they missing out on project deadlines? It means that they do not feel the level of motivation you would want them to.

And it may be because your senior managers cannot motivate them to share the company’s goals. If yes, then it’s a clear case of a leadership vacuum.

The lack of collaboration is another sign of a lack of leadership. As we all know, teamwork is vital for a company to succeed. And if individuals on a team have a solo mentality, the team is likely to fail.

Only good leaders can make a team gel and work together. Do you see a lack of teamwork in your workforce? It can be a sign of poor leadership. You can take countless examples from the world of sports. The greatest teams in history had a leader who personified the spirit of the group.

The most obvious sign of poor leadership is a lot of in-fighting. It is the worst thing that can happen in teams. If there’s a lot of finger-pointing and blame game going on, take it as a clear sign of a leadership vacuum.

Ways to Fill a Leadership Vacuum

What to do when your organization is suffering from a leadership vacuum? There are both short-term and long-term solutions for filling it. As a business owner, you have to move quickly and make changes. At the same time, you have to keep an eye on long-term rebuilding. So, here’s how you can go about it.

Reorganize

When the leadership in your organization can’t function, it can cause a crisis. You have to take the hard decisions and make changes. But the lack of any leadership for a long time can be disastrous. That’s why you have to reorganize quickly. It would be best if you assigned interim leaders as soon as possible.

Also, make sure everybody at the workplace is aware of the change. Only then should you allow the new leadership to take charge. Remember, this is a short-term response to a leadership crisis. But make sure you choose proactive leadership to take control.

This is the course to take when your current leaders step down or prove to be incapable. But short-term ways of dealing with a leadership vacuum are as crucial as a long-term response.

Better Leadership Training

Leadership training should not follow a one size fits all approach. Also, the business world is changing, and leaders need to adapt. And the training you provide should prepare your leaders for the future. The same old leadership tactics don’t work anymore.

Working on leadership training is a vital long-term response to a leadership vacuum. It will help you foster a culture of leadership among your managers. Once you have good leaders, you will notice a positive effect on your workplace culture.

Also, a spirit of leadership will encourage your employees to take control. And before you know, you will have potential leaders sprouting throughout your company. But for that to happen, you need to work on your leadership training.

Remember, your organization has its leadership needs. And the training you provide must prepare leaders to fulfill those specific needs. Only then will you create leaders who thrive in your industry.

From Hierarchy to Collaboration

The nature of good leadership is changing. Maintaining a strict hierarchy does not work for companies anymore. The focus is moving from hierarchy to collaboration. In fact, collaboration has become vital to leadership today.

The definition of a good leader is also changing. Qualities like emotional intelligence have become necessary for a leader to have. We will talk more about it later. Let’s talk a little more about collaboration first.

Good leaders always have a knack for bringing people together. They provide a vision that everyone in the team shares. But today, the leader needs to relate to every member of the team. Only then can she exert influence over the group. And only then can she collaborate with them on various projects.

Emotional Intelligence

As we discussed above, emotional intelligence is vital for leaders. For example, leaders today must empathize with their team members.

Empathy is essential for anyone to manage an organization or a team. As you know, to empathize is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

A person cannot lead people he doesn’t understand. That’s why emotional intelligence is crucial for a leadership training program. It not only fosters empathy in future leaders but also makes them self-aware.

A self-aware leader knows when she makes a mistake. And you need such strong leaders to overcome and avoid a leadership vacuum. Make sure you instill empathy and self-awareness in your aspiring leaders and managers.

Reorganize and Rebuild

You have to start by quickly identifying a leadership vacuum. Poor leadership at any stage of your organization can be disastrous.

As a business owner, you have to be proactive in spotting it. Only then can you take measures to deal with it.

As we discussed above, you need to act quickly and make changes. Start by reorganizing the order and choosing new leaders. These can be interim leaders, or you might want to train them into good leaders. This transition face is important when you make changes.

But your focus should always be on a long-term solution. An organization will always need leaders at different levels. And only good leadership training can produce a constant flow of strong leaders.

Also, remember the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership. And make sure you concentrate on training solid and self-aware leaders.

Ranu Kumari

Ranu Kumari is a Professional Writer and a Marketing enthusiast who currently runs her own Marketing Consultancy, LatitudeBOX. She has written promotional articles for multiple brands and has published her work in Scopus indexed journals. She is passionate about expressing her thoughts and ideas to connect with her readers in a voice that they understand.