Making Vision Stick
By Andy Stanley
Five things you can do to significantly increase the adhesiveness of your vision:
- State the vision Simply
“If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pew.” Howard Hendricks
- Cast the vision Convincingly
Communicate it in a way that moves people to action
- Define the Problem
To cast a convincing vision, you have to define the problem that your vision addresses.
To make your vision stick, your audience needs to understand what’s at stake.
To cast your vision in a convincing manner, you need to be able to answer these two questions: What is the need or problem my vision addresses? And What will happen if those needs or problems continue to go unadressed?
- Offer a Solution
- Present a Reason
Must be a reason something must be done, a reason for your vision.
Answer the questions: Why must we do this? Why must we do this now?
A leader points the way to a solution and gives a compelling reason why something why must be done now
To cast your vision convincingly, you need a reason for why now is the time.
- Repeat the vision Regularly
Casting a convincing vision once is not enough to make it stick. Twice isn’t either. Vision needs to be repeated regularly.
Vision should evoke emotion
We all need to be reminded why we are doing what we are doing. We need to be reminded what’s at stake. We need to be reminded of the vision.
- Celebrate the vision Systematically
To make vision stick, a leader needs to pause long enough to celebrate the wins along the way.
What’s celebrated is repeated.
- Embrace the vision Personally
Living out the vision establishes credibility and makes you a leader worth following. When people are convinced that the vision has stuck with you, it is easier for them to make the effort to stick with the vision.
Bring an unchurched friend or family to a weekend service
If you say you believe in something, live it out. And live it in a way that the people around you can see it.
Sharp people will not embrace a vision that is merely a marketing scheme for someone’s personal agenda.
Random idea:
Success lures us into taking our hands off the wheel. Failure causes us to overcorrect. Both success and failure can lead to disaster.