We have been covering how your ability as a leader to influence your team is based on their trust in you and we discussed ways to build that trust. One thing we stressed was to establish a vision and share it with the team. This helps to create cohesiveness, transparency and trust. It serves as a roadmap and will help others to understand what is driving your decision process helping them to see consistency in your actions.
J. Kouzes and B. Posner, two respected leadership experts said the following, “There’s nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can’t clearly articulate why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Beach or Mountains?
Imagine for a second you are told you are going on a “trip of a lifetime” so get ready and start packing. If your version of that is a warm beach vacation in the tropics but the other person’s version of that is a ski vacation in the Alps you could see how frustration and confusion could easily set in. If this confused direction happens repeatedly, you will become demoralized and disengaged.
How different it would be if you knew that the other person always talked of repeated trips to the Alps, the incredible fun they’ve had there and a wish to spend as much time there as possible. Then when the vacation offer came up, you could be pretty sure you were going skiing, not to the beach.
Why?
Our example is to help stress the importance of vision for a leader. A vision is a clear mental picture of where you want to go; what the future can be. It is a guide that provides a general direction, a clear sense of purpose. As we previously discussed, you may need to use influence to help people better understand your vision. Your team needs to be engaged.
They need to understand your clear vision of the future. What are we now, and more importantly, what can our parish be? What is the best version of ourselves and why is that best? This must be communicated with passion and clarity. With a clear picture of the end result they will be motivated and inspired to follow you.
It will help to provide focus and a rationale as to why certain decisions need to be taken. This is especially important for a new pastor who may be replacing a revered long-standing pastor with a different vision. Making changes without helping the parishioners to understand why the changes are being made is a plan for resistance and failure.
The journey begins with a single step
Obviously, to influence people to understanding and accepting your vision, they will need to trust you. This may take some time, so it might be best to start with small changes that will lead to your vision eventually. To return to our vacation example, maybe you first go to the lake in the mountains with a beach. Once they enjoy that you can move to a winter vacation there. In our next post we will continue with helping them to understand and support your vision.