Transformational leadership tends to reflect visionary leadership because of its focus on the larger picture, combined with the leader's ability to inspire people to work toward the achievement of a particular organizational vision. Empowerment helps foster leadership ability in those who receive delegated authority, and is a management tool that can contribute to effective leadership. Moses both empowered people and provided a vision and shared a mission statement, actions that remain essential for leadership success. Moreover, effective leadership requires trust that leaders must earn, asserts Peter Drucker, “otherwise there won't be any followers,” and, for Drucker, “the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.”

Warren Bennis, in his list of differences mentioned previously, maintains that “the leader inspires trust,” while “the manager relies on control,” underscoring the importance of trust as a leadership quality. Furthermore, “trust is the conviction that the leader means what he says,” because, according to Drucker, “it is a belief in integrity [since] a leader's actions and a leader's professed beliefs must be congruent, or at least compatible.” Drucker asserts, “Effective leadership […] is not based on being clever; it is based primarily on being consistent.” Consistency in leadership is imperative in order for followers to understand the message and goals of the organization as articulated by the leader.

Ultimately, however, even a twentieth-century management authority like Drucker can appreciate that “an effective leader knows that the ultimate task of leadership is to create human energies and human vision.” Robert Rosen, a theoretical biologist who applies scientific views to business, similarly asserts that “trust is the glue that holds relationships together [and] without trust, no vision ever becomes a reality,” yet, just as “trust takes a long time to earn,” it can be “lost in a moment's thoughtlessness.”

Visionary Leadership

Erica Brown argues that “being visionary involves not only reflecting on the future, but also on taking a sharp, sometimes painful look at what currently exists.” In Midian, Moses was confronted, first, by a messenger, or angel, of God from a burning bush— whether simply serving to get Moses’ attention or to get him prepared for his encounter with the Divine— the voice of God emerged from the fire declaring, “‘I am […] the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’”