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The Leader as Visionary.qxd
Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told
you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will
see greater things than these." And he said to
him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven
opened and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of Man."
John 1:50-51
I m a g e s o f
L E A D E R S H I P
C O P Y R I G H T © 2 0 0 3
L E A D I N G E D G E®
THE LEADERSHIP OF KING DAVID
2
1 CHRONICLES 29
King David said to the whole assembly, "My son Solomon, whom
alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great;
Identify com-
for the temple will not be for mortals but for the LORD God. 2 So I have pro-
ponents of
vided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things
David's leader-
ship in this
of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of
scene...
bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood,
besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored
stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble in abundance. 3Moreover, in
addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of
my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my
God I give it to the house of my God: 4 three thousand talents of gold, of
the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for overlay-
ing the walls of the house, 5 and for all the work to be done by artisans,
gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will
offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the LORD?" 6 Then the
leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the
leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the thousands and of the hun-
dreds, and the officers over the king's work. 7 They gave for the service of
the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten
thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one
hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Whoever had precious stones gave them
to the treasury of the house of the LORD, into the care of Jehiel the
Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for
with single mind they had offered freely to the LORD; King David also
rejoiced greatly.
10 Then David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly;
David said: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, for-
ever and ever. 11 Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the
victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is
yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
12 Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are
THE LEADERSHIP OF KING DAVID
3
power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength
to all. 13 And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious
name.
Identify com-
14 "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able
ponents of
to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your
David's leader-
ship in this
own have we given you. 15 For we are aliens and transients before you, as
scene...
were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is
no hope. 16 O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for
building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all
your own. 17 I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure
in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these
things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering
freely and joyously to you. 18 O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, our ancestors, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts
of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19Grant to my son
Solomon that with single mind he may keep your commandments, your
decrees, and your statutes, performing all of them, and that he may build
the temple for which I have made provision."
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, "Bless the LORD your
God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their ancestors,
and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD and the
king. 21 On the next day they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to the
LORD, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their
libations, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel; 22 and they ate and drank
before the LORD on that day with great joy.
How does God work? What is David's role?
V ISION: AN ATTRACTIVE PICTURE OF AN ATTAINABLE REALITY
4
ABOUT REALITY
. The ability accurately to describe
what exists, to see weakness and strength. To be in touch
with needs. Insight.
C O M P O N E N T S
People will only trust your vision if they think
FOR THE FUTURE. The ability to see what does not exist,
and to expect it to happen.
The role of a leader: maintaining creative tension
: the difference
between reality and the vision.
Vision
: maintaining this tension is the work of
REGARDING THE PROCESS. The ability to identify steps
that could be taken to accomplish change from what exists to
what could exist. Foresight.
·Defining roles and opportunities for involvement.
·Making strategic choices regarding allocation of resources:
time, people, energy, money.
WILLINGNESS TO
The ability to risk failure for
the sake of the potential gain of success.
The ability to describe the attainable in
images that are attractive, and the ability to describe the
attractive in steps that are attainable.
·Repeatedly reclairifying how roles and steps work to accom-
plish the vision
IN GOD . Knowledge of God's desire to move us
from what is to what could be.
·Being a visionary
faith and
faith.
V ISION: AN ATTRACTIVE PICTURE OF AN ATTAINABLE REALITY
5
1 CLARITY
PERSONAL VISION
GROUP VISION
2 HOPE
3 WISDOM
Where are you now?
Where is the group now?
1
Strengths / weaknesses
Strengths / weaknesses
4 RISK
5 ARTICULATION
6 FAITH
What would you like to see
Where do you see the group
in the future? 3 months, one year
going? Short-term or long-term, as
or five years - you pick!
appropriate.
2
How can you help the group
What steps could you
grow? What intermediate
take to grow?
steps may be possible?
3
What risks are involved if
What risks are involved? For
4
you take these steps?
you? For others?
What will you need to say /
What will you need to say to
commit to? To yourself (com-
the group? To individuals
mitments you make)
5
? To others?
within it?
To God?
What does faith look like for
How will you need to trust
you in this?
God for the group to move
6
forward in this way?
V
6
ISION BEGINS WITH SEEING CLEARLY
BLINDERS
PREVENT US FROM SEEING OPPORTUNITIES. WE WEAR BLIND-
ERS BECAUSE THEY KEEP US FROM GETTING DISTRACTED.
THEY HELP US FOCUS. BUT THEY LIMIT WHAT WE CAN SEE,
Often, we only
HENCE OUR VISION.
see what we
want to see.
Categorical blinders:
Ministry strategy blinders:
Past failure: "We already tried that..."
Past success: Routines- large structural commitments we cannot afford to question.
SHADES
COLOR OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY. PERHAPS THE HARSH
BRIGHTNESS OF THE LIGHT OF DAY IS JUST TOO OVERPOWER-
ING FOR US TO TAKE, SO WE PUT ON OUR SHADES AND SOFT-
EN REALITY MORE TO OUR LIKING. BUT THESE TOO LIMIT AND
DISTORT WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO SEE ABOUT THE THINGS
AROUND US. WE NOTICE LESS. WE ARE MORE COMFORTABLE.
IT ' S EASIER TO REMAIN DELUDED.
Measurement: what we measure = what we value.
Attention: what we listen to or read shapes what we notice: music, media, criticism, affirma-
tion. When we start paying attention to new sources, we will start seeing new things.
Dismissing disconfirming data: how we deal with complaints, critics, competitive ideas, fail-
ure of outcomes to match expectations. We dismiss disconfirming data to maintain our current
paradigm.
Continuity Assumption: what worked last year is working this year and will work for years
to come.
Familiarity Generalization: "From where I stand, the ministry looks great."
Value dogmas: "We are seeker sensitive." "We develop leaders."
V
7
ISION BEGINS WITH SEEING CLEARLY
LENSES
HELP US SEE THINGS MORE CLEARLY. BRINGS THINGS INTO
FOCUS.
Disillusionment
is our friend.
Illusions aren't
Lenses take much more time to make than blinders.
real.
Taking the team into these as a team will help build a common vision.
Scripture
Prayer -- listening to God
Reading broadly; cultural analysis (others' and our own)
A formal corporate visioning process : emphasis, time, process over time,
thinking critically, empowerment of quieter voices.
DIS-ILLUSIONMENT
WHEN WE HAVE OUR ILLUSIONS FORCIBLY REMOVED
FROM US (WE RARELY BLITHELY SET THEM ASIDE)
WE ARE OPENED TO SEEING THINGS WE COULDN ' T
BEFORE. PAUL EXPERIENCED HIS DISILLUSIONMENT
ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD. IT BLINDED HIM, BUT HE
COULD SEE MUCH MORE CLEARLY.
Conflict of any kind, especially ethnic or gender
Reports, objective data, surveys, honest feedback: hmmm, we aren't doing as well
as we thought.
Sabbatical or wilderness experience
Personal Failure. Pain. Tragedy. Death. "Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we
will see face to face." Death is the ultimate disillusionment.
V ISIONARY LEADERSHIP CASE STUDIES
8
1 Peter is an enthusiastic and experienced leader of a new and growing small
group. The focus of the small group is training for ministry and leadership. He has
said to his group, "Every person in this group will start another group in a year."
After a few months, Peter must go away for a week but sees it as an opportunity for
his group to develop. He asks two key members to lead the upcoming meeting, and
they agree. The day of the meeting, Peter finds out via e-mail that one of them, the
strongest potential leader of the two, was not planning to come to the meeting at
all, due to some relatively weak excuse about needing to work late.
· What has Peter done right as a visionary leader? What has been missing?
· What does he need to be able to lead?
2 James and Eileen have long been frustrated by the lack of community
among their church friends. The church is structured so that it is hard to get to know
people as families. Several years ago they became convinced that a family camp with
five to ten families with kids in grade or middle school would be a great start. They
have mentioned this idea to the pastor to announce to the church, but this pastor is
only really committed to all-church retreats and it never got a plug from the pulpit.
For these last several years they mention their concern and idea to people who
always express similar concerns and interest, but nothing ever comes of it.
·James and Eileen have some vision for change in their church. Why hasn't that
vision been effective?
·What needs to be their first step to see it become reality?
A NSWERS AND RESOURCES
9
PAGE 4
Clarity, you can see clearly
Hope, leaks, leadership
Wisdom
take risks
Articulation
Faith, requires, inspires
FURTHER RESOURCES
"[Some months ago someone asked me,] 'What is one of the most difficult things that
you personally need to work on?' He seemed very surprised when I said, 'The inter-
ception of entropy.'
"I am using the word entropy in a loose way... I choose to define it as mean-
ing that everything has a tendency to deteriorate. One of the important things leaders
need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration.
"I have made a list of these signals over the years. As you read this list,
remember that many people in large organizations relish apathy. They often fail to see
the signs of entropy.
· A tendency toward superficiality
· A dark tension among key people
· No longer having time for celebration and ritual
· A growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing
· When problem-makers outnumber problem-solvers
· When folks confuse heroes and celebrities
· Leaders who seek to control rather than liberate
· When the pressures of day-to-day operations push aside our concern for
vision and risk. (I think you know that vision and risk can never be separated.)
· Manuals
· Leaders who rely on structures instead of people
· A loss of confidence in judgment, experience, and wisdom ..."
Max DePree, at the time CEO of Herman Miller, in Leadership is an Art, p105-106.
· Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in
Organizations, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1991.
· Visionary Leadership, Burt Nanus. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
· The Hungry Spirit: Beyond Capitalism: A Quest for Purpose in the Modern
World, Charles Handy. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
· How Organizations Learn: An Integrated Strategy for Building Learning
Capability, Anthony J. DiBella and Edwin C. Nevis. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
A NSWERS AND RESOURCES
10
PAGE 8
1. Peter is an enthusiastic and experienced leader ...
· What has Peter done right as a visionary leader? What has been missing? Peter
has a bold hope for the future, and has had faith enough to spell it out to his folks.
He also has been willing to act in faith to move toward its accomplishment. Yet his
problem is that he has lacked, of the six elements of visionary leadership, clarity
about reality and wisdom about next steps. He has spoken more confidently about
his expectation that his group members will be ready to lead than any evidence indi-
cates is warranted. People in his group may admire his vision, but they probably
don't trust him in this vision because they may not be sure he really has seen them
clearly, as individuals, not simply as projects in the completion of his grand scheme.
· What does he need to be able to lead? If Peter were able to be patient with his
folks, looking for simpler next steps (like leading portions of the meeting while he is
there, not the whole of it when he is absent), then he may find a few of his folks
ready to move with him to the next level of ownership and leadership. Probably he'll
need patience with those who may not be ready to lead in a year, and to communi-
cate greater freedom and grace will build trust with everyone.
2. James and Eileen have long been frustrated ....
· James and Eileen have some vision for change in their church. Why hasn't that
vision been effective? While we could say that James and Eileen have had vision, it
might also be possible to say simply that they've expressed a need. They haven't
been willing to take any risky step of leadership other than to speak with their pas-
tor, who hasn't told them "no" as much as he's indicated that he cannot be count-
ed on to speak with vision toward this need. They have been unwilling to take risks
and to articulate the vision in the form of a call. "We're in, how about you?"
· What needs to be their first step to see it become reality? If they could gather two
or three other families, with whom they have the most relationship, and could spell
out their vision and the needs that their idea would meet, perhaps they could get
these other families to join them in committing to the idea of a family camp. Then,
as they talk to others, they could speak about something that was already going to
happen, not simply something that could one day, if someone picked it up and ran
with it, become reality.
Scriptures taken from New Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
© U.S. Council of Churches. Used by permission.
L E A D I N G E D G E® ©InterVarsity Christian Fellowship 2003
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