Vision is crucial in leadership.
There’s no easy way to say this: without vision, there can be no leadership.
If you are a leader, having a vision is essential. You need to understand how vision works in the life of a leader.
And then you need to know how to communicate it.
There are four essential steps to communicating your vision to the people around you.
If I had to choose a favorite book in the New Testament, Philippians would be pretty close to the top of the list. I simply love this little letter written by Paul somewhere around 60-61 AD.
Our verse to memorize is a short one, but it’s something of a smack in the face.
Don’t just read it and move on. Stop and think abut what Paul is telling you to do. And then take a look at your life and see just where this needs to be applied.
Philippians 2:14. Take a look:
I think we complain too much.
Watch this video.
While humorous, the point is well taken. We complain.
Paul says don’t. It’s that simple.
What have you complained about today? What can you do to eliminate this habit from your life? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.
I’ve come to realize over the years that one of the most powerful aspects of leadership is vision.
The power of vision makes or breaks leadership; or more accurately, the power of vision makes leadership, and the lack of vision breaks it.
For a leader, vision is fuel.
Over the next few days, I plan to post a three part mini-series on vision and how it works in the life of the leader.
This post is the first, How Vision Works In The Life Of The Leader.
Following this will be two more posts: Four Essential Steps To Communicating A Vision, and Casting Vision: What’s The Payoff?
Like I said, vision is fuel for leaders. It provides the catalyst that a leader needs to begin building momentum in the direction of a fulfilled mission.
The most basic definition of a vision is a perceived picture of the future.
Anyone can do that.
What sets a leader apart is developing a perceived picture of the future that produces passion.
There are three parts to developing this type of vision.
This week’s passage is the classic Christian Church text on baptism.
I believe Peter’s message here is pretty clear: baptism is extremely important.
Acts 2:38 is this week’s passage:
This comes in the middle of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, which resulted in thousands of people turning to Christ.
Pretty amazing day any way you look at it. What would we do in our churches if 3000 people responded at once?
What would we do?
How would we react?
I think we would be in awe of God’s incredible power, just like the believers in Acts were.
Read through the book of Acts and take note of just how many times you see that God was adding to their numbers.
I think the point is this: When we preach the word with boldness and without compromise, God does mighty things through it. He brings people to himself. He rescues. He saves.
So, why do we fear?
Peter shared the gospel with boldness. Do you? What helps you to do this? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.
One question I hear frequently is “How do I know what God’s will is for my life?”
This is a pretty complex question. And the answer isn’t always a simple one. There are many things that factor into understanding what God wants you to do with your life, or even in any given situation.
But at the core of this answer lie two foundational elements: Prayer and the Word.
I know. It sounds trite and overly simplistic. But it’s true. These two elements are necessary to understanding what God want’s for your life.