Vision

Oklahoma Christian Lectureship - 21 January 1998

The Eldership

The Need for VisionSession 1


20 Questions to determine your church’s health:

#1 Question: “Do you have a clear vision? One that is biblical, widely known, and owned by your people, articulated with clarity and redundancy by the leadership?Leadership: A Practical Journal for Church Leaders, Summer 1997


Need for Visionary Leadership in the Church

Proverbs 29:18 Matthew 25:14 Changes in Society

Women in the workplace Busy - Busy - Busy Increasing number of singles and singles again Technology Neighborhood to Globalization Changing values

Challenges Generational Differences Compromise of the “Points of Uniqueness” Challenges to be contemporary Role of women Availability of volunteers


A reality that has yet to come into existence.

A view of the future that grows out of and improves upon the present.

A mental model of a desirable or idealistic future for the organization.

The essence of leadership.

What Exactly is Vision?


Properties of Powerful, Transforming Visions They are appropriate for the organization and for the

times. history, culture, values, consistent with present

situations. They set standards of excellence and reflect high

ideals. They clarify purpose and direction. They inspire enthusiasm and encourage commitment. They are well articulated and easily understood. They reflect the uniqueness of the organization. They are ambitious Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus


7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

Habit #2 “begin with the end in mind “

“Although Habit 2 applies to many different circumstances and levels of life, the most fundamental application of "begin with the end in mind" is to begin today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame of references of the life--today's behavior, tomorrow's behavior, next week's behavior, next month's behavior--can be examined in the context of the whole, of what really matters most to you. By keeping that end clearly in mind, you can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day does not violate the criteria you have defined as supremely important, and that each day of your life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a whole.”


Examples of Visionary Leadership

David: 1 Chronicles 28:2Nehemiah 2:4-5; 17-18Jesus: Matt 4:17-19President John KennedySouthwest AirlinesDon ShulaWalt Disney


David

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.” (1 Chronicles 28:2).


Nehemiah

2: 4-5

“I answered the king. If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor ……………… so I can rebuild it.”

2: 17-18

“Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and we will no longer be in disgrace.”


Jesus

Matt 4: 17-18

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near…………….”Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”


John F. Kennedy


Southwest Airlines

No carrier knows its niche as well as Southwest.

"Most companies fail in their growth because they don't have a vision," Putnam believes. "They don't know where to go. When you have a vision and someone comes to you with some convoluted idea, you can hold it up to the vision and ask, ' Does it fit? Does it fly? If not, don't bother me.' A vision must be so strong that it can outweigh the egos of managers that might want to take off in a different direction. Vision is the bigger picture that motivates employees because they understand how their individual efforts contribute to the overall dream. Southwest Airlines was founded by visionary thinkers. Rollin King’s crazy, forward-thinking idea gave the company its start. Over the years visionary thinking and big dreams have encouraged people to enlist in the crusade to provide legendary service and give ordinary people extraordinary opportunities. At Southwest the vision lives, and visionary thinkers continue to provide the inspiration for its future.”


Shula“Someone has said that a river without banks is a puddle. When I apply that saying to human interactions, it reminds me of the job of a coach. Like those riverbanks, a good coach provides the direction and concentration for performers' energies, helping channel all their efforts toward a single desired outcome. Without that critical influence, the best achievements of the most talented performers can lack the momentum and drive that make a group of individuals into champions. In my work with the Miami Dolphins over the years, one single vision of perfection has motivated all of my coaching--that's winning every football game. Without exception, every coaching strategy I've adopted has been aimed at that one target. A broad target that's easy to achieve leads to the "puddle" of mediocrity. Keeping that specific focus before the team and concentrating the efforts within narrowly defined limits are my tasks as the coach of this football team. I believe that if you don't seek perfection, you can never reach excellence.”


Walt Disney's Vision for a New Kind of Amusement Park

“The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge. It will be a place for parents and children to spend pleasant times in one another's company: a place for teachers and pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education. Here the older generation can recapture the nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation can savor the challenge of the future. Here will be the wonders of nature and man for all to see and understand. Disneyland will be based upon and dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and hard facts that have created America. And it will be uniquely equipped to dramatize these dreams and facts and send them forth as a source of courage and inspiration to all the world.


Disneyland will be something of a fair, an exhibition, a playground, a community center, a museum of living facts and a showplace of beauty and magic. It will be filled with the accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the world we live in. And it will remind us and show us how to make those wonders part of own lives.”


Our specific mission at the Memorial Road Church of Christ is to equip and empower men, women, boys and girls for Christian leadership, evangelism, worship and service in families, in the church, in the community and around the world.

Through equipping and empowering our people from the cradle to the grave for leadership, evangelism, worship and service, we will develop members who seek to proclaim God's standards to the world rather than defend themselves against the world.

Our primary methodology will be, first of all, to mold our members into people who know God and his word, love people, and practice the teachings of Jesus Christ. Second, we will recruit, train, place, nurture and empower our members locally to carry out the God-given mission for His church universal.

In summary, we will equip our members by teaching them what the word of God says, by giving them the opportunity to observe people carrying out that teaching in life situations, and by placing them in positions to teach others what they have learned (Ezra 7:10).

We will empower our members by giving them the platform, freedom, resources and authority to carry out assignments in a climate that applauds effort and does not condemn failure.


Properties of Powerful, Transforming Visions They are appropriate for the organization and for the

times. history, culture, values, consistent with present

situations. They set standards of excellence and reflect high

ideals. They clarify purpose and direction. They inspire enthusiasm and encourage commitment. They are well articulated and easily understood. They reflect the uniqueness of the organization. They are ambitious Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus


The Eldership

The Need for Vision

Session 2


Developing Vision Statements


REMEMBER

A Vision is:

A view of the future that grows out of and improves upon the present.

A mental model of a desirable or idealistic future for the organization.


REMEMBER

A Vision is:

appropriate for the organization and for the times, for the history, culture, values, and is consistent with present situations.


Properties of Powerful, Transforming Visions

They are appropriate for the organization and for the times.

history, culture, values, consistent with present situations.

They set standards of excellence and reflect high ideals.

They clarify purpose and direction. They inspire enthusiasm and encourage

commitment. They are well articulated and easily understood. They reflect the uniqueness of the organization. They are ambitious Visionary Leadership, 1992, Burt Nanus


Developing a clear vision of perfection is almost like producing a movie in your mind. I recently had a chance to work with the top management and the heads of dealerships for Freightline, a leading manufacturer of large trucks. Jim Hibe, a the president, spearheaded the development of a new service vision for their dealerships--one that would permit them to go way beyond their competition. In preparation for their key annual conference, they produced a thirty-minute video that illustrated two hypothetical dealerships. The first, called Great Scott Trucking, typified the present mode of operating for many of the dealerships: limited hours (eight-to-five on Monday to Friday and nine-to-twelve on Saturday); uncommitted employees; few, if any extras (like donuts and coffee for truckers waiting for their vehicles); and so forth. When you entered the dealership, everything seemed to be organized for the convenience of the employees, not the customers. For example, the manager comes in about 11:45 on Saturday. Seeing a long line in the parts department, he says, "Make sure you shut her down at twelve. The line will make a good Monday."


The other dealership was called Daley Freightliner and was a customer-driven operation with twenty-four-hour service--seven days a week, committed and trained employees willing to go the extra mile, and all kinds of services for the truckers. They had a lounge with LA-Z-Boy recliners and a huge TV showing first-run movies. There was a quiet, dark room with bunk beds in case the truckers wanted to sleep. Employees drove repaired trucks to the front rather than making the drivers retrieve them from the back lot.

Many of the dealerships were closer to Great Scott Trucking than they were to Daley Freightliner, so when the conference opened with the video, it made some people squirm. But it beautifully pictured the new service vision for all to see and experience. I followed the video with a talk entitled "Raving Fans," all about having customers who want to brag about you. After that, dealers who were closest to the Daley Freightliner image shared their success stories. To me that program was an excellent way to communicate a new vision of perfection.(Ken Blanchard in Everyone's a Coach, 1995)


SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths What are your congregations particular

strengths? Do you do something that is unique to your congregation?

Weaknesses What are the areas where you are

lacking? What do others seem to do that you can’t

seem to carry out?


SWOT ANALYSIS

Opportunities What is happening in the external

environment that could provide opportunities for your congregation?

Threats What things in the external environment

pose threats to your congregation?


Possibilities

Spiritual GrowthEvangelismHelping OthersMissionsThe results of your SWOT analysis!!!!

Vision

Business

vision session

vision lives

clear vision

ambitious visionary

levels of life

essence of leadership

different direction

workplace busy busy