I have never before done a guest post, however I love the idea of passing along great information when possible. This insight is from my dear friend Jeff Henderson, campus Pastor at Gwinnett Church in Atlanta, GA. Jeff is certainly a spiritual mentor of mine, but I truly cherish his insight into business and marketing.
Please share your ideas when you can. What’s your best advice?
The Daily Vision Test
Leadership
By Jeff Henderson, Campus Pastor of Gwinnett Church
When I worked in the marketing department at Chick-fil-A, one of the questions we asked Owners/Operators was:
“What are you doing today to build your business?”
Not yesterday. Not last month. Or last quarter.
Today.
It’s a great question because it underscores the daily need to stay focused on the most important tasks. And often, the less important tasks beg and scream for our attention.
The same is true for church leaders. The question I ask myself, as the campus pastor of Buckhead Church, is similar to the one I asked Chick-fil-A Operators:
“What did I do today to cast vision for Gwinnett Church?”
Bill Hybels is correct. Vision leaks.
It’s not enough to have an annual vision Sunday, or an impassioned vision speech. All of that is great. But it doesn’t answer the daily question:
“What did I do today to cast vision for the church?”
Now, let me be honest. There have been plenty of days when I have no answer. Still, the question keeps me on my toes and moving forward. After all, it’s not about perfection. It’s about progress.
This is one of the many reasons church leaders should continue to take advantage of social media. At Gwinnett Church, we have our own Twitter account and Facebook Fan Page that allows us to celebrate victories and cast vision daily. One recent example of this is when we twittered this question: “Okay everyone. Vision test. What is the vision of our church?” It was so encouraging to see a flood of Twitter responses with the right answer.
Another powerful way to cast vision daily is through thank you notes. I am constantly looking for stories where our staff and volunteers have lived out our vision. These stories allow me to both celebrate and reinforce the vision of our church. My goal is to write three thank-you notes a day, the old-fashioned kind with ink and a stamp. (I’m not a big fan of email thank-you notes. But I guess it’s better than nothing.)
Finally, the most important way I can cast vision daily is for me to live it out in my own life. If I don’t have any stories about how I am inviting people to Gwinnett Church, why should I expect the church to do differently? If I am not in a small group, why should I expect people to carve out time for it? If I am not giving to the church, why should I expect others to?
In this way, vision isn’t a leadership tool. It’s a way of life.
Lived out daily.