A management consultant had recently completed an assignment with a Fortune 500 company named Cornerstone Inc whose employees were dissatisfied and crying out for a 'take charge' boss among other issues. Company owner Paulina Kanarek was the most enlightened leader the consultant had ever encountered. She was known to encourage experimentation, cajoled employees to seize authority and treated everyone with the assumption that they were intelligent. Despite this many people in the company complained that management and leadership were lacking. Something was being lost in translation.

In the years since the company made the prestigious 500 lists, Paulina stepped back and added a layer of senior management between her and the core of the company. Whilst she made sure her managers shared leadership vision, the message was being distorted and not properly communicated to employees who felt alienated and uninvolved in the process of its creation. Delegation of authority was being perceived as a lack of leadership, while relaxed management styles were being interpreted as a lack of emotional investment. In addition, the leadership failed to establish a strong enough foundation along with a poor delegation of authority to gain the understanding and support of staff, who instead of feeling empowered, perceived the company leadership as weak, inadequate and fearful of taking responsibility. They expected a leadership that was more command and control driven instead of egalitarian and seemingly rudderless. The correct foundations were not established before a modern leadership style centred on delegation and empowerment could take hold positively.

Questions

a.Explain the meaning of a Vision Statement and give TWO (2) reasons why is it important for employees.