Healthy Leaders | Issue 37
Does your vision capture the hearts of your followers?
Welcome to Issue 37 of Healthy Leaders. In this issue: aligning the people to the vision.
Hello friends,
Welcome back to our ongoing conversation on healthy Christian leadership and leader development.1
We’ve been talking about vision, and how it relates to the three parts of leadership (establishing the direction, aligning the people to that direction, and motivating them to move in that direction). In the last few issues of Healthy Leaders, we’ve covered what constitutes legitimate vision and how to keep tabs on three horizons at once. Today, we’re getting into the thick of the second part of leadership: alignment.
Leaders often refer to this part as “buy-in,” and there are a million pieces of advice out there about how to create it in your leadership team or organization. But the real issue at the heart of aligning your team is, well, their hearts.
You may have the highest purpose in the world, but if you don’t share that vision with your constituents, and do it in such a way that it captures their hearts, they will not follow you. (Malcolm Webber, from Leading)
Let’s get into it:
In our trainings around the world, alignment has proven to be a significant issue — as Malcolm says in this video, it’s the part leaders tend to skip over! One pastor in Nigeria was cut to the heart after realizing his team’s failure to engage in this essential step.
“We have failed God in our inability to depend on Him to run the assignment He has committed to us. O Lord, have mercy! The issue of alignment is our major challenge in the ministry. We have been declaring the vision but getting more and more frustrated because it is not fulfilled. Now we know why we were failing.” (Pastor T, Nigeria)
But as we’ve been saying throughout, the discovery of problems in our leadership is only the beginning of becoming a healthy leader. Through this particular training, pastors from across the nation not only repented of taking the time to build alignment with their people, they realigned their hearts with God.
I have learned how to align the people to the Master because it is not about me but the Master. (Pastor E)
Even the most “on-fire” leaders cannot accomplish extraordinary things alone. Neither is this God’s purpose. He wants an army of ordinary people to do His will, not just spiritual superstars.
Here are some ideas you can use to rally folks around your vision:2
Identify your constituents. Leaders must first identify all those who have a stake in the outcome of what they envision. This will include all the members of their church or ministry, other leaders, and even members of the community. Broad visions need broad support to be accomplished.
Appeal to a common purpose. If they are to embrace it, the vision must be genuinely meaningful to the people. When the people perceive that their leader’s vision is meant to serve them rather than just serve the leader, he or she gains the credibility necessary for commitment to the vision and to the hard work it will take to achieve it.
Listen first – and often. Listening is one of the key characteristics of exemplary leaders. This process is not a monologue but a dialogue. An effective leader does not merely impose his own personal dream, but he develops a shared sense of purpose.
Breathe life into the vision. By using vivid metaphors, stories, symbols and slogans, and by communicating with fire and enthusiasm, leaders make their intangible vision come alive so that others can see it, hear it, taste it and touch it.
Speak positively. There is no room for tentativeness when we share the vision. The obstacles and difficulties should be addressed, but not dwelled on. Leaders must express to their followers that, together, they are well able to succeed and to “take the land”!
Share the vision with clarity, passion and credibility. Clarity so the people know where to go; passion so they want go; and credibility so they are willing to follow a leader they trust.
Speak from the heart. The greatest inhibitor to enlisting others in a common vision is a lack of personal conviction. Others will never share a dream if the leader is not fully convinced of it himself. Leaders must genuinely believe in their own dream; then the vision will live and compel. Moreover, leaders must believe in the future of their followers. If the leader does not believe in it, how can he convince them to?
Alignment involves significant effort, wisdom, and grace on the part of leaders. It requires clear and constant communication. It requires a passion for God’s highest that is infectious, and gentleness and patience with your followers.
But the only way you as a leader can capture the hearts of your followers is if your own heart has been captured by God.
What about you?
So you’ve got a vision for your ministry or organization. What will it take for you to capture the hearts of your followers?
We’d love to hear your insights in the comments.
Until next time, we’re with you!
— Chris
Recommended Resources
Book: Leading
For more resources, visit our website.
Thanks to our friends at Fifty-Four Collective for putting together a comprehensive set of video courses for growing healthy organizations, starting with this series of courses on leadership by Malcolm. We’ll be using some of their videos and some of our own. Be sure to check out what they’re doing!
Two further thoughts about keeping vision alive:
1. Recruit for vision. A key recruiting question is where the new recruit is in relationship to the vision.
2. Behaviour that is contrary to vision must be addressed and change expected.