Paint the Target, Find Your Vision

Proverbs 29:18

KJV- “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

The Message – “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.”

In my opinion, Proverbs 29:18 is one of those verses that is taken out of context often in leadership circles. The focus of the verse needs to be God’s vision not my vision. If we are in tune with what God’s plan and vision is for our individual lives, our vision will always be His vision.

Also, God’s vision is always bigger than our vision. We all need to think bigger. We get too caught up in small things and don’t let our minds expand. We need to open up our minds. Wilferd Peterson said, “Big thinking precedes great achievement.”

I’m going to give you the Brandon translation of the verse: “Without pursuing God’s vision for our lives, we will not succeed.” And as the Message translation says, “they stumble all over themselves”. And I believe that when we are in tune with what God’s plan is for our lives, God blesses that.

How important is it, as a leader, to have vision? Leadership author Dr. John Maxwell says this in his book Leadership 101:

“Vision is everything for a leader because it leads the leader. It paints the target. It sparks and fuels the fire within, and draws him forward. It is also the fire lighter for others who follow that leader. Show me a leader without vision, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t going anywhere.”

Furthermore, while it’s so important we pursue and understand God’s vision for our lives, a vision cannot meet its optimal effectiveness without the leader’s ability to communicate it. In doing so, Patty Vogan, author and owner of Victory Coaching, says this in her article titled 5 Key Traits of Great Leaders,

“Learn to paint a picture with words. Speak it, write it, draw it, touch it. Whatever methods you can use to create a picture, do it. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

That last sentence is so true. I know I “get it” once I see the picture in my mind. Unfortunately, way too many leaders and organizations have a vision but fail to communicate that vision to their people. As a result, the vision never sees its full potential.

In addition to being able to effectively communicate the vision, we also need to have passion and confidence in pursuing it. Your people will follow you until the ends of the earth if they know that you are willing to do whatever it takes to see your vision come to fruition. As the legend coach Vince Lombardi said, “Confidence is contagious”.

While looking for quotes on vision, I came across two quotes that I believe capture the essence of what I’m trying to communicate in this post that I would like to leave you with:

“Don’t underestimate the power of a vision. McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, pictured his empire long before it existed, and he saw how to get there. He invented the company motto — ‘Quality, service, cleanliness and value’ — and kept repeating it to employees for the rest of his life.”
–Kenneth Labich

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”
–T.E. Lawrence