The overwhelming flow of leadership models
If you’ve been following the topic of leadership in recent years, you’ve probably felt lost in the growing list of models and styles. Agile Leadership, Ambidextrous Leadership, E-Leadership, Complex Adaptive Leadership, Transcendent Leadership… each comes with its own definitions, training paths and expectations.
Yet in most organisations you see the opposite need: people don’t want another label – they want clarity. Leaders want to know what they should actually do differently in their conversations, decisions and day-to-day steering. They look for the right balance between theory and practice.
So the question arises: are we refining leadership, or breaking it into smaller and smaller fragments?
What too many models do to leaders and HR
Most leadership models are created to address a very specific challenge.
You probably recognise these in your own context:
Agile Leadership focuses on adaptability and rapid course-correction.
Ambidextrous Leadership balances operational efficiency today with innovation for tomorrow.
E-Leadership translates leadership into digital and hybrid realities.
Complex Adaptive Leadership embraces systems, networks and shared decision-making.
Transcendent Leadership adds an explicit ethical and purpose-driven dimension.
None of these approaches are inherently wrong. But the downside is that leaders – and executives in particular – eventually lose sight of the bigger picture. Which model fits your organisation? Should leaders switch between all of them? And how do you explain “good leadership” to colleagues who simply want to guide their teams in an already demanding context?
The risk is that leadership becomes a theoretical exercise instead of visible, human, consistent behaviour in conversations, choices and in how you navigate tension and uncertainty.
Vision as the timeless core of executive leadership
Once you look past the labels, research shows a remarkably consistent cornerstone of effective executive leadership: vision.
Studies have shown for years that a clear future direction strongly drives innovation and organisational renewal. A shared vision helps teams set priorities, say no when necessary and understand difficult decisions – even when they’re not always comfortable.
Research by Hülsheger and colleagues (2009) illustrates that vision plays a crucial role in team creativity and innovation.
Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985), a framework studied for decades, describes exactly that. Leaders who:
- articulate a clear and compelling future direction
- encourage people to challenge assumptions and think along
- consistently connect their behaviour to that bigger direction
This type of leadership is systematically linked to higher engagement, learning agility and improved organisational performance. Not because it is “new”, but because people need direction in a complex world.
For you as a leader, this means something concrete: not every new leadership model needs a place in your competency framework. It can be far more valuable to choose one central competency – such as vision – and translate it into observable behaviour, selection, evaluation and development.
Back to simplicity, without denying complexity
Simplifying doesn’t mean pretending your context is simple. Hybrid work, restructuring, talent scarcity and societal expectations make leadership demanding.
But precisely for that reason, simplification helps. Not by removing nuance, but by naming clearly:
- This is what vision means in our organisation.
- This is what we expect from our leaders.
- This is how we observe, discuss and develop this competency.
This creates focus rather than adding yet another label. Leaders know what to work on, employees recognise what they can expect, and HR can design development initiatives that truly fit the reality of the role.
What you can do today
You don’t need to redesign your entire leadership framework to start applying these insights. Start small:
Take your current leadership model and identify the competencies that are truly essential. Is vision explicitly defined? What does that look like in real behaviour? Do you see it in practice?
Have a conversation with several leaders about their own “story for the future”. Can they explain in three minutes where their team is heading and why it matters?
Review your development efforts. Are you mainly teaching leaders new labels, or helping them sharpen and articulate their own vision?
Sometimes the most evidence-based next step is not adding a new model, but reducing complexity. Back to the core: leaders who create direction, bring people along and remain consistent in their daily behaviour.
That’s how leadership stays human, practical and well-grounded. Exactly what many organisations need today.