Not Everyone Goes At The Same Speed

When you are driving this is obvious as cars go flying by you at 90 mph, or maybe for you it is reversed but that’s your business.  When you are leading you may not see it as clearly. When you want to see growth in a group of people your first tendency may be that, “I got it, why can’t they.”  Not every concept is as obvious to those we lead as it is to us.  Whether it is their maturity level, or the place they are at in their growth, not everyone will get it at the same time.

Not Everyone Will Follow You.

This has to be one of the most overlooked aspects of being a leader.  You may think everyone will follow you but the odds are that some one will not. Just like cars people will go faster or slower than you do.  People will pass you and some will drop off altogether. This is usually proportionate to your level of leadership.  We all know that if you have a lower level of leadership, people with a higher leadership aptitude will not follow you.  The reverse is true as well.  If you are an eight or nine there are threes and fours that will be jealous of your leading and they won’t follow.

Big Ideas Don’t Come Along As Often As Small Ones.

We went through tens of small towns along the way several medium towns but only three big cities: Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville.  Big ideas are direction changers and take time to work through.  Developing a big ideas may take outside help to give you direction, but they also provide more options than smaller ideas.   Small ideas keep you going and build on the  momentum of the big idea. Smaller ideas may add to the big ideas or they may help your sort out details, but they are not direction changers.  Some small ideas may become big ideas if they are developed right, but that is for another post.

When Coming Out Of Something Big It May Take Time To Get Everyone Up To Speed.

When a big idea has run its course there will be people who want to stay at that level.  They want to hang on to the big idea because it gave them security and some it gave a leadership position to.  If it worked before why will it not work again many ask, not able to realize that times change and ideas become safety nets to keep us from being stretched and changed.  Some will abandon you or the organization for another place that can give them the safety of that one big idea that meant so much to them.

The Going Can Be Slow At Times

Traffic moves slow at times, and so does growth.  There will be times when you are developing an idea and it will feel like no one but you gets it.  Whether it is your growth, your people’s growth, or just the wrong time it will feel like you are going nowhere fast.  During these times you may want to give up or get off the road, but now is not the time.  It is okay to pull over and reevaluate and check your direction, but you need to get back on the road and keep going in the direction you believe you should.  Eventually you will see the pace start to pick up and changes start to take place.

image by flicker user kool_skatkat used under cc2.0 liscense

The word used here is also translated revelation in some version of the English text.  So I would contend that any true vision of where you or your organization are going must be a revelation from God.  When this type of vision is grounded in a group that is truly seeking to do what God wants them to do, the resistance level will go down, and the determination level will go up.  Don’t misunderstand that, the calling may not be easy, but the internal resistance will go down.

Set The Stage

When you are trying to help those you are leading see what you see, you need to set the stage.  By setting the stage I mean you and your leadership team need to tell them what you feel the vision is.  This is done in smaller settings first. Talk to a few or even one at a time.  Get their vision first.  Once you understand what the person you are talking to thinks the vision should be,  lay the two visions on top of each other and help them see where their vision ties in with the vision of the leadership.

This is the longest stage and where most visions fail.  If you can not help the majority of people see where their vision fits with the larger vision you not going to be able complete the vision. This could take six months or longer. During this time you must keep your leaders focused and moving toward the goal.

Cast the Vision

When you stand up in front of the crowd and say this is what we are going to do and most say, “We see it.”  Don’t mistake this for a my way or the highway kind of speech.  You will need to continue to lead the people into the scene you showed each one of them.  When they can see where they fit in the process you will truly be leading them with vision.

Continue To Play The Movie

You must continue to show each person involved how they still fit in the picture.  When new people arrive they need to be shown the film as well and see what character they are in it.  You can not do this enough times.  When you think the people are sick of hearing it, they have only begun to catch the vision themselves.

Not everyone will buy into the vision.

There are people that you have in your organization that will fight you and push you and try to derail your leadership.  These people have to be dealt with in some fashion.

1. If everyone is against the vision, you may have the wrong vision or the wrong time.  you need to deal with this internally and see where you need to change or restructure what you think the vision is.
2. If the majority is for the vision and a few are against it then they need to be guided personally by you or members of your team.  This may be just asking them some questions and clarifying what the vision actually is and how they fit into the vision.  If this is a strong minority you will need to talk to them as a group and listen to their concerns.  You are the leader and you need to be the person who helps this group into the fold.
3. If only a couple are against the vision then they need to be weighed.  My friend Ken Bish say to look at their sphere of influence.  Are they going to influence others into fall away from the vision.  If not then their weight is minimal and you can move on.  If they are influencers then you need to find the hang-up and either bring them on board or monitor their talk.  These people are usually all bark and no bite so use your best judgement when dealing with them.

Image Public Domain via Wikipedia

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