The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper and re-imagines the world. - Malcom Gladwell

As One Year Closes, Another Begins

We’re weeks away from the New Year and a clean sheet of paper. How will you re-image your world?

The days between Christmas and New Year’s Day always feel like a sacred time to me. I reflect as the year comes to a close, and dream for the year ahead. There’s so much hope and possibility in the year to come. So many goals waiting to be accomplished. So many plans to pursue.

As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to cast a vision for the future. But to cast a vision, you must first have the vision to cast.

Dreaming, planning, creating goals, and making resolutions are all elements of your vision for the new year. And for that vision to be strong, your vision needs these three elements.

Hope

When we as leaders are following a vision directed by God, Hebrews 6:19 reminds us that we can be secure in God’s promise and that our hope in God’s fulfillment of that promise is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” 

Andy Andrews says it this way in his book The Final Summit: 

“Hope is the captain of courage and the author of success. For the person whose hope remains unshaken has within them the power to do miracles. Hope sees what’s invisible, feels what is intangible, and achieves what most consider impossible.”

Hope is the anchor of a strong vision.

Hope steadies a team.

Hope redeems doubt. 

Conversely, Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” When vision is lacking, and hope is lost, we lose heart.

Possibility

A strong vision helps us see possibilities and potential.

Great leaders use their influence and power to help calm nerves and change people’s perceptions by alleviating fears and providing hope. They reframe reality in a way that makes it palatable.

Visionary leaders understand how to be a bridge from reality to possibility. We’re all inclined to be either dreamers or doers naturally.

Dreamers live in ideas, whereas doers live in reality. As a leader, you must learn to be the bridge between both.

Followers can’t follow a dream that seems disconnected from reality, but they also will not be motivated to follow a leader without a plan. The strength of leadership lies in the ability to make connections to possibility.

Potential

A strong vision allows everyone involved to rise to their potential. It pulls us further than we’ve been before because we’ve anchored the vision in hope and bridged the dream to reality. 

Those we lead (including ourselves) begin to see the extraordinary potential ahead of them and within them.

That clean sheet of paper has so much hope, possibility, and potential.

The coming year has so much hope, possibility, and potential.

You have so much hope, possibility, and potential.

May you create a vision for the year that truly re-images your world!

** Culture Matters  **

Free Workbook for An Extraordinary Team Culture 

Most leaders agree that a healthy culture is essential in any organization. Everything we do as leaders is either building or eroding culture. 

We want to help you develop an extraordinary team culture, so if you haven’t downloaded our free workbook, please access this resource. 

This guide will help you define your culture, develop your vision statement, and develop your plan for an extraordinary team culture!

Jenni Catron is a writer, speaker, and leadership coach who consults churches and non-profits to help them lead from their extraordinary best. She speaks at conferences and churches nationwide, seeking to help others develop their leadership gifts and lead confidently. As Founder and CEO of The 4Sight Group, she consults with individuals and teams on leadership and organizational health.

Jenni is the author of several books, including Clout: Discover and Unleash Your God-Given Influence and The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership.