As both a ministry leader and coaches, we figured we’d give coaches a peak into some of the most helpful ways we have found to cast strong vision in order to get others on board. You can encourage those you are coaching to try out and use some of these ideas. We expect they’ll find these approaches fruitful.
Strategies to Cast Strong Vision
People can lose vision is less than a month. Effective vision-casting must be repeated, intentional, and take many different forms. Here are a few common strategies that can prove effective:
Strategic prayer:
Pray individually, with the leadership team, and as a full congregation or ministry.
Personal example:
People watch what a leader does much more than what they say. If you want people to engage in, say, evangelism, you must engage in it yourself and lead by example.
Rewards and recognition:
Publicly recognize those who are modeling the vision. Others will emulate those who are praised for their behavior.
Remember the “why”:
Based on Simon Sinek’s TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” remember to continue underscoring the motivation behind the needed action. People cannot lose sight of why they are doing what they’re doing.
Powerful stories:
There is nothing like a compelling story to paint a picture of a preferred future. Make it so people can see it and taste it.
Appeals to scripture:
Regularly quote and reference the scriptures passages upon which your vision is founded. Those passages will encourage and remind people of what they are aiming for.
Cultivation of relationships:
Nothing will be accomplished aside from genuine relationships. Foster conversations about the vision so you can hear what people are feeling and thinking and give them space to process.
Gain ownership:
Flowing from these relationships should be ownership. Effectively casting vision means much more than getting consent or compliance: it means getting true ownership and buy-in… so much so that the vision would go on without you at the helm because others believe in it just as much.
Challenge to next step:
No matter how motivated someone may be, they cannot begin moving forward until you give them a first step. Identify and highlight some clear, concrete steps they can take that will help them know they are on track.
7 Questions to Help Your Clients Reflect on How to Cast Strong Vision:
- What is your motivation behind this vision?
- What is compelling about this vision for your people?
- Describe how you have helped people understand and implement a vision.
- What did you learn from that experience?
- How can you apply that learning to this vision?
- What do you need to do differently?
- What is the most important strategy you need to apply to cast a strong vision?
If you are coaching leaders who want to cast vision, encourage them to try out the strategies above and let us know how they go!
Photo by Hennie Stander on Unsplash
Cover Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash