Tuesday, October 24, 2006

A Leader's Vision

"Leadership is influence" according to Randy Sims in His book The Greatest Among You. Everyone has influence, whether it's on many or a few, on public opinion or your younger sibling, there is always some measure of influence that you posses; it is unavoidable. You decide how you will influence people every day, for good or evil, wise or foolish. Even if the decision is unconscious, and you never thought of it that way before. Your decisions arise from a desire to "see" something happen: you make it happen. This desire is called Vision. All Leaders have some vision no matter where it came from or what it consists of. If they didn't have vision they wouldn't have a motivation to influence, and therefore wouldn't be leaders.
Vision is the ability to see what's not there, but not all leaders are gifted visionaries. A truly gifted visionary can see what's not there and form a plan to make it happen, often times when others would blow it off as an absurd whim and make nothing of it. Visionaries will pursue their goal by trying to convince the skeptical that their vision is plausible. However, visionaries do not always posses the resources or capacity to accomplish their goals and sometimes get discouraged from their visions by the rejection of skeptics.
Not all visions are of God or worthy of pursuit. But the best way to tell whether something is worth your time and effort is the Philippians 4:8 test:
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."
If the vision matches up with this verse then you should pursue it.
A visionary possesses his gift from God, and should therefore pursue his visions as his calling to bring glory to God. To give up would not be right. First of all, if you're a visionary by this description: DON'T GIVE UP! Pursue those visions! I remind you of the possibility of the impossible in Philippians 4:13. Secondly to those of you who are not visionaries: do not be skeptics, but encouragers who are willing to provide the means for the execution of goals. Apply the Phil. 4:8 test to a vision and determine if you should join the effort and adopt it as your own; but "whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might" (Ec. 9:10) and "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)

-Jonathan A. Bryce-<><

Comment Question: What are your visions?

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