For decades I’ve heard people such as John Maxwell, Bill Hybels and Rick Warren say, “Vision leaks.” In other words as leaders we may think that we don’t have to remind folks of the vision over and over again, because since it’s always in the front of our minds, we think it’s always in the front of theirs as well. The truth is most people have a great deal on their minds, and the vision for your business, church or other organization may not be one of them, even if they work for the company or serve on the staff of the church or organization. That’s why we must always remember to cast vision regularly.
How often is regularly? The short answer is when we think we have cast the vision too much, when we think people are sick of hearing about it, we have probably started to cast it enough. At New Life our mission is To share, grow and live the new life of Jesus Christ with the world–one person at a time. Of course we print that at the bottom of our letterhead paper, notes we send to one another, and other official documents of the church. I say it regularly in weekend messages. When I sit with a group of folks from the church to talk about what’s going on at the church or to introduce a new ministry or opportunity, I always remind them of how it fits into our mission. That may seem like overkill, but it’s simply making sure that the mission is always out in front of people.
Some people are willing to go with the flow, but other leaders are going to want to know not only what we’re going to do, or how we’re going to do it, but why we’re doing it in the first place. Casting vision let’s folks know why. Every time we introduce anything at New Life we let folks know why it fits in with our mission. Some will go along with what we’re doing because of along relationship. Others will go along, because they’re agreeable. Still others will go along, because anything new seems better than what we’ve been doing. But a significant core of people are going to want to know why we’re doing something new or different. Casting vision helps all of those folks but particularly the latter group.
If you are in the midst of introducing something new, or you have introduced a new initiative over the past couple of week or months, but it doesn’t seem to be gaining a lot of traction, it’s probably time to cast the vision for it again. Remember vision leaks so you need to keep casting it again and again. Don’t let your familiarity lead to the false assumption that you have “finished” casting vision. Unless the project is complete, or the task is accomplished, your need to cast vision continues.
Remember, too, you can’t delegate casting vision to someone else. While others on the team need to be able to articulate the vision, if you are the primary vision caster, you are the one who must steward that position well. When I say your must steward the position well, I mean that you have been entrusted the vision either by God, or the board of directors, or you have birthed the vision yourself. In any case, no one but you can be as effective in casting and translating the vision to others. While every vision needs buy-in if it’s going to be adopted and accomplished, you need to be the one who champions the vision whenever you can.
Please, remember, if you are the primary leader in the organization, you are the primary vision caster, and your consistency and persistence in getting the vision before others, will be the main impetus for its becoming a reality.
Here’s to leading better by casting the vision–again–today!