We hear a lot about how leaders must have a burning red-hot vision from God. If we accept Bill Hybel’s definition of vision(I do), then what exactly does it mean to have a vision? How can you tell if you’re moving in the right direction? Great! I’m glad you’re pondering that question.
As a subscriber to Harvard Business Review OnPoint Journal, I behaved like a child at Toys R Us upon receiving the Winter 2010 edition. “Turning Your Vision into Reality” is this month’s theme and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Vision is popular buzzword among leaders, especially church leaders. Unfortunately, many pastors attend conferences and come away with visions hijacked from others, falsely believing that God will do the same for their church. I call this ministry pornography (I’ll blog about that later).
I am a voracious reader. In fact, I love to read and I never pass up an opportunity to visit bookstores. I will literally sit for hours, scan book & magazines, and fill my Moleskine notebook with pertinent information. This week I invite you to join me and take a peek in my notebook and see my thoughts.
As promised, every Friday I’ve decided to share my “Top 5.” I’ve thought a lot about success and what it takes to be successful. Since success is hard to conceptualize and is subjective, I’ve discovered there are similar costs most are willing to pay in order to be successful.
Here’s what’s swirling around in my mind this week:
You can’t be CHEAP and successful at the same time. College costs money. Books cost money. Conferences & Seminars cost money. Putting yourself in a position to be stretched and grow cost money. One of the qualities that I’ve always noticed in successful people is that they were personally willing to pay a financial price.
You can’t be LAZY and successful at the same time. You must be willing to put “some skin in the game. This means you get your butt out of bed and make it happen! Also, remember that rest is essential because success is a LONG journey.
You must be mentally strong. Your success journey will be one of the most emotionally draining things you will EVER do. You will discover that you can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows with one email or phone call. Your heart and motives will be called into question. Critics will attack. Haters will hate (that’s what they do).
You must devise a plan to combat spiritual warfare. The enemy IS NOT happy about what you’re trying to accomplish. His strategy is to kill, steal, and destroy. He attempts to kill the dream in the beginning…before the seed takes root. The more successful you become the greater the intensity of spiritual attack on your life.
You will bear scars. Jesus asked His followers to count up the cost before they decided to follow Him. Why? Those who God uses greatly, He scars them deeply. Behind every successful person are scars they’ve accumulated along the journey. Success will cost you something!
You have a purpose in life. Let me repeat: You have a purpose in life! You know in your heart what’s most important to you.
What Is A Personal Vision Statement?
A personal vision statement is a preferred picture of what could be and what should be in your life. Additionally, it’s a plan for people to accomplish the goals they set. It shapes your identity and crystallizes principles which are important to you, and supplies a foundation on which to build a preferred picture of the future. In short, it communicates who you are and what you plan to accomplish. A personal vision statement can be based on your mission, goal, or your passion.
One of the great features in the LogosiPhone Bible app is the ability to share Bible verses with your friends, family, and followers on Facebook, Twitter, and by email. Not only does the LogosiPhone Bible app make this easy to do, it does so in a way that is easy for your friends and family to engage with God’s Word (See, we all blame God @ some point). More than just sending a scripture reference, the iPhone app uses http://ref.ly to convert the verses into clickable links. The advantage is that you offer people an easy way to get right to the verse you want to share.
Check out this demonstration:
So, will you yield to temptation like I did or will you remain strong?
We all have blind spots. You can’t see them! We can’t avoid them and probably will never get rid of them! Seems obvious, but YOU aren’t in the best position to see your blind spots or to know how they are affecting the people you lead and the relationships you’re in.
Here’s what I’m learning as I lead:
Your greatest strengths can also do damage to your team dynamics. You tend to think that everyone values the same things you value and that everyone is good at the same thing that we are good at.
NOT TRUE!
Over the next few weeks I invite you to join me as I read Strength Finder 2.0. Strengths Finder 2.0 is the follow up to Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book includes a revamped version of the StrengthsFinder test that shows you not just what your top five strengths are, but also how you rank in the rest of the 34 strengths from Buckingham & Clifton’s model.
I recommend that you get the Strength Finder’s book. It’s a great tool to have on your shelf. After reading the book and completing the Strength Finder survey, I will post my results and encourage you to do the same. I hope this discussion will encourage you to become more aware of your own blind spots. Please join me on this amazing journey.
In his book The Winner Within, former NBA coach Pat Riley offers some insights on the danger of compromising excellence.
He writes:
Being a game player is a fiction some people use to excuse themselves from working as hard as they should. People who think they are game players are what coaches call “floaters.” They float along on a cushion of talent or sheer physical size and strength. They don’t see what all the fuss over concentration and work ethic is about until players of lesser talent start scoring in their face, quarter ofter quarter, simply because they are more in tune with their game…Eventually every team has to learn that excellence isn’t a destination. It’s a process that must be continually improved (pp. 150-151).
Of course, NBA players and coaches are committed to excellence because they want to win a championship. These can be good motives, but as followers of Christ, the motive that drives us to excellence should be a desire to please God. The one who will give us our final reward. Everything we do should be done with a conscious awareness of His presence, a realization that he is watching.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Colossians 3:23
The Apostle Paul reflected that such awareness should prompt us, regardless of our field of endeavor, to “work at it with all [our] heart.” Men and women who follow Christ aren’t “floaters.” They give their best effort all of the time, knowing that there is never a circumstance during which the one they follow is not with them, urging them on to their finest.
Are there situations in which you “float?” If so, Why?
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Best regards,
Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
