What happens when the vision of the leader is totally different than the vision of the people? Maybe my workers features a completely different focus. Perhaps the church I lead needs to travel in an exceedingly new direction. The first question I ought to be asking is: How did this happen? The second query is: How did this happen on my watch? Leaders should accept responsibility for what goes on in the organization. If there is a split in the vision of the church or business, the leader should answer the questions on how this happened and how it happened now. Then the leader should work out what to try to to to alter it.
If my church moves faraway from my vision, I can't jerk them back with one sermon or one staff meeting. Instead, I need to consider myself as an orthodontist trying to straighten teeth. I want to put the braces on the teeth and then with each visit I should slowly turn the key to bring the teeth back into alignment. I can't simply tighten them in one motion and say, "You have got straight teeth now." Doing that could cause injury, and therefore the results will not last. Likewise, I would like to tighten and turn my people a little at a time till I bring them back to the vision. I don't need to beat people up or accuse them of not doing what they should. It is not their fault that the vision went the opposite way. It's the leader's responsibility. Many leaders in this example can say, "I had no choice." But we have a tendency to do have a choice. We tend to continuously have a choice. Once we say we don't, we have a tendency to give up our ability to do something to change the situation. Taking responsibility for a wandering vision will gain us an chance to correct it.
Once I speak to the staff of a company, in solely a few minutes I will see who has and who hasn't bought into the leader's vision. If the people say, "Pastor's vision is ..." instead of claiming, "Our vision is ..." there is a disconnect. If the leader says something like, "My people extremely need to try to to this and that they need to do that," his language reveals that he hasn't bought into their ideas. The words used will alert us to vision that has shifted between the leader and his people.
Benefits of Shared Vision
The name Ritz-Carlton evokes thoughts of superior service and opulent pampering. This association isn't by accident. Ritz-Carlton managers train every employee to live by the company Credo. The Credo begins with this sentence, "The Ritz-Carlton Hotel may be a place where the real care and luxury of our guests is our highest mission." The Credo continues with a pledge to the guest of "the best personal service and facilities," "a warm, relaxed yet refined ambiance," and a promise to fulfill "even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests." Imagine living up to that vision! No surprise each employee is trained on the twenty Ritz-Carlton basics. The primary basic is: "The Credo ... should be known, owned and energized by all." Not only do they need a vision, however the first issue everyone who works for Ritz-Carlton must do is memorize, own, and live out that vision. Imagine how our business or church might grow if everyone knew, owned, and energized our company vision.
However this isn't a business-solely concept. The Bible talks concerning the effectiveness of individuals all working along toward the same vision in Genesis 11. The individuals of Babel came together to make a tower that reached to the heavens. They used brick instead of stone and they used tar for mortar. Not only did they agree on the vision, but they also agreed on the techniques to fulfill that vision. Those people who've worked with a vicinity association on adding a brand new fence or changing the landscaping of our property apprehend how hard it's to search out agreement on construction details. To see the people of Babel agree not only on the planning however the strategies of building is kind of an accomplishment!
But the LORD came down to work out the town and therefore the tower that the boys were building. The LORD said, "If united people speaking the identical language they have begun to do this, then nothing they arrange to try and do will be impossible for them" (Genesis eleven:five-vi, NIV). There is an important lesson in these verses. Not only does the vision must be cast-and cast properly-it's to remain in front of the folks until they absorb it as their own. The words used are important. Previously I used the example of "My individuals have a vision ..." and "The pastor features a vision ..." to illustrate how language is used in a church where the vision is not shared.
Now Genesis offers us an example that something will be accomplished when everybody is using the same language. The goal of a frontrunner is to cast the vision out to the people and listen to it came back in these words, "Our vision is...." When the vision is properly forged, nothing is impossible for us or our organization.
Author Resource:
Riley Jones has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Vision, you can also check out his latest website about:
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