Vision or Revelation?

Each morning I make it a practice to read the Experiencing God Day By Day daily devotional from Blackaby Ministries International. Earlier this past week, I read the entry that focused on Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law.” I want to quote what the Blackaby’s have said about this proverb:

“The world operates on vision.  God’s people live by revelation.  The world seeks grand and noble purposes and goals to achieve. Institutions establish goals and then organize themselves to achive them.  God’s people function in a radically different way.  Christians arrange their lives baed on the revelation of God, regardless of whether it makes sense to them.  God does not ask for our opinion about what is best for our future, our family, our church, or our community (or our business); He already knows!  What God wants is to get the attention of His people and reveal to us what is on His heart and what His will is, for God’s ways are not our ways.

“Whenever people do not base their lives on God’s revelation, they cast off restraint.  That is, they do what is right in their own eyes.  They set their goals, arrange their agendas and then pray for God’s blessing.  Some Christians are living far outside the will of God, yet they have the audacity to pray and ask God to bless their efforts.

“The only way for you to know God’s will is for Him to reveal it to you.  You will never discover it on your own. What you hear from the Father, you have an immediate agenda for your life: obedience.  As the writer of this proverb observed, happy is he who keeps the law.”

So, is this saying that goals, resolutions, plans and other tools that help us to stay focused and organized are not appropriate or meaningful?  No, I don’t think so.  I think what is being said in the Proverb and by the Blackaby’s is that we must first hear a revelation from God before we go off and set our agendas, plans, goals and deliverables.

What is God’s agenda for you? Have you asked Him or taken the time to allow Him to reveal it to you? If you want to learn more about this, my recently published book devotes the first chapter to this topic and it is entitled Setting a Vision.  Purchase it here.

The Top 5 Traits So-Called “Leaders” Are Missing

The Top 5 Traits So-Called “Leaders” Are Missing

There has been so much written about leaders and leadership, and I am no exception having written several articles and a book about the topic.  I thought for this post, I would take a different twist and talk about what many so-called leaders are really missing.  This is by no means a complete list; nevertheless, I hope to get some conversation going.

So here is my list of what leaders are missing and why it is so important:

1.    Integrity – I think we’d all agree that it helps to have followers, right? Well, if a leader is missing integrity, the followers will lose trust and confidence that this leader will take care of them and lead them to a common destination. Followers must have a strong sense that the leader can be trusted, and that comes when the leader does what they say they will do and acts in a consistent manner all the time – that’s integrity.
2.    Self Confidence – There is a delicate balance between a healthy belief in one’s abilities, competencies and talents vs. having an unhealthy belief creating low self-esteem on one end of the spectrum or arrogance, pride or hubris on the other end of the spectrum. Healthy self confidence is that balanced place in the middle that others will sense is positive without being arrogant.
3.    Vision – Without a clear and compelling vision, the leader nor the follower have any motivation to get up and go each and every day.  The proverb says, “Without vision, the people perish” and it is true.  Without vision, the followers will look to someone else who has a vision that fits their ideals, values and goals. Without vision, the leader will soon find him/herself alone.  An essential ingredient in the vision must be that it serves others and not the needs of the leader. When the vision serves the leader, it is hard to have integrity.
4.    Communication – Unfortunately, many leaders think they are communicating when they are talking.  Communication takes much more than talking – it requires connecting by listening, understanding what others are saying, knowing how your audience will best receive what you are trying to say, and so many other elements.  In today’s world, communication not only includes what is being said, but how it is being said and how it is being delivered.  All of these elements must be focused on the audience and not the leader.
5.    A Heart to Develop Others – What good is it to have all the above elements and not be able to have others carry it out in your absence – whether that absence is for a vacation, or whether the absence is permanent?  Leaders who do not develop other leaders are not only failing themselves, they are failing the organizations that have hired them in the first place.

What do you think about this list?  Do you agree, or would you substitute another element in place of one of the items discussed? Let’s hear what you have to say.

Establishing a Vision

Establishing a vision for a department or organization is one of the most important challenges and opportunities for a leader. Setting a worthwhile vision requires time to effectively craft and articulate, obtain input from others, gain commitment from all and achieve clarity in explanation and execution. What has THE BOOK told us establishing a vision? If you are ready to tackle it, here is a suggested approach:

1.    Pray first
We should pray before beginning any significant endeavor. Unfortunately, most of the time we plan and then maybe we try to commit those plans to God by praying about them. Scripture is clear in that God is telling us to pray first and then plan with the insight He provides. You have probably heard the quip, “If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans”. Proverbs 16:3 tells us to “Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed.”

2.    Set aside the right amount of time
How much time? It depends on the size of the organization and whether you are creating it from scratch or reviewing an existing one for continued relevancy.  If the vision will guide a multilevel organization, such as a Fortune 500 organization, you might need up to six months. If you are establishing a new vision for a smaller organization of 100 employees, you still might take several months. If you are aligning a department or divisional vision with an existing corporate vision, it might take a month or two. Whatever time is required, understand that a worthwhile vision is not established at a typical one- or two-hour staff meeting.

3.    Assemble a team of advisers
The challenge of developing a vision for your organization, no matter how small or large, should not be one you take on alone. As Proverbs 15:22 teaches, it is wise to develop the vision among leaders and not with one leader. Ideally, your team of advisers will be a group of people who can champion the vision’s components, namely its mission, core values, objectives and goals. Your direct staff of people who will implement the vision might be part of this team or you might choose to have an external team of people who know the broad environment and marketplace. It is helpful to arrange for the meeting to happen at an off-site location. This allows the people attending to focus on this critical task and not be interrupted by their normal work activities.

4.    Engage some outside help
Even the most skilled leaders find it difficult, if not impossible, to facilitate a visioning session and be a participant at the same time. If your organization has a strong training or executive development function, perhaps someone on that staff can facilitate. If not, hire someone who has the expertise to help. It will be one of the wisest investments you will make. (Shameless plug – contact me, for I have assisted dozens of organizations, small, medium, large, private, public, not for profit, in a wide variety of industries.)

5.    Take time to consider your ideas
As you work to put the meat around the bones of mission, core values, objectives and goals, take time to reflect and meditate on what you are developing. This is the time to ask the Lord for His blessing on your work, to let these proposed plans take time to germinate and to see if this really is where the Lord is leading you and the organization.

6.    Communicate your vision to all concerned
What good is your vision if your people do not know their roles in fulfilling it?  This means that you must develop plans to communicate this vision to employees, customers, vendors and others who will have an impact on its accomplishment. Holding one big roll-out meeting to communicate it is not nearly enough. Actually, if you communicate this only once, it probably will not succeed. Your plan must include regular (usually monthly or quarterly at a minimum) updates to everyone so progress can be tracked and rewarded. Recall that Jesus took many opportunities to communicate His vision to people who had heard it before. This was to remind and encourage them to continue on, especially when faced with obstacles or setbacks.

7.    Establish accountability and measurements
Plans devoid of responsibility or accountability will not be accomplished. This seems like such an obvious statement, yet many organizations fail to take this step. Their worthwhile vision withers from neglect, and “the way we have always done it” continues unchecked. Similarly, if you do not look at checkpoints along the way, how will you know if you are on the right path to reach your vision? Measurements help people deliver what is expected of them when such measurements are clear and objective. Remember, you can not expect what you do not inspect; if you do not measure it, you can not manage it. See my blog post http://www.leadershiplessonsfromthebook.com/you-cant-manage-what-you-cant-measure/ on this topic.

Setting a vision is one of the foundational elements of ensuring a successful organization. For the Christian leader, this means following principles that God has established as essential. His process has proven again and again that it is successful. The roadmap is there; we merely need to follow it.

Setting A Vision

Why do some organizations seem to continually grow, prosper and have a positive impact on their community while others flounder, lose money and employees, lose respect and eventually close their doors? Obviously, there can be many explanations. One of the surest explanations has to do with vision; either a lack of a vision, lack of commitment to that vision or lack of clarity of the vision.

Setting a vision provides the foundation and core values for everything you do personally and professionally. Companies or organizations without vision are like sailboats without rudders; they blow wherever the wind takes them. Without a vision, they can be heavily influenced and directed by the marketplace’s changing patterns. They tend to be reactive and not proactive.

Leaders at organizations without a strong vision do their own thing with little connection to the company’s main purpose. These leaders, not to mention employees, often feel frustrated, disconnected, and unappreciated. Setting a vision and regularly reminding employees of that vision allows them to stay engaged, connected and contributes to their motivation to perform. It enables them to see and have a purpose in their work.

Establishing and communicating a vision provides the building blocks of leadership. It enables leaders to speak to, guide and direct their staff with purpose and resolve. It allows leaders to establish measurements of progress. It enables leaders to set clear goals that drive people and the organization in a specific direction to accomplish a desired result or outcome. Vision provides an essential ingredient to employee motivation. A worthwhile exercise is to look at the vision you have as a leader and determine if it truly motivates employees.

Effective leaders spend a great deal of time thinking through what the vision ought to be, how to make it compelling so others will be energized by it, and how to reinforce it and keep it top of mind among staff. They do not rush into it nor do they take on this critical assignment on their own. They engage with others to provide input, dissect, tear apart and otherwise reconstruct the vision to ensure the outcome is clear, concise and passionate. Most importantly, effective leaders strive to have a vision that is larger than they are as individuals. As Christian leaders, they strive to have a vision that has an Eternal and Kingdom-focused impact.

I have outlined the steps to take in setting a vision in my recently published book Leadership Lessons From THE BOOK. You can order it by clicking HERE.