Our last post ended by saying, “Vision is critical for any leader; garnering support and alignment is equally important for your success.” Obviously, this requires you to share and effectively communicate your vision. This may be more difficult than you would expect. Think of how many times Jesus had to explain things to his apostles that he thought they should have understood (Lk 18:34, Jn 12:16, Mt 15:16 and Mk 6:52).
If Jesus struggled with his apostles it is likely, and to be expected that we will face similar struggles. We may be surprised by this because we think we have been crystal clear in getting our message out. This is usually not the case and sometimes the fault lies with us as well as with our audience.
There is an old axiom that is shared among people who do a good deal of public speaking and presenting to audiences. “Tell them what you are going to say, tell them, then tell them what you told them.” This fits very nicely with the “rule of 3”. The rule of three is a very general rule that states that concepts or ideas presented in threes are inherently more interesting, more enjoyable, and more memorable. … Three is the smallest number of elements you need to create a pattern.
Most priests are good at communicating, but with something this important, it is critical to practice before sharing. The purpose of this is to allow you to use visualization as a tool to fine tune your vision message. Debbie Zmorenski offers an exercise that will help do this https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/29109/leaders-have-vision.
We will attempt to customize it here:
First step
Think of a challenge that is facing your parish. This can be something that you feel can be eliminated or improved.
Step 2
Visualize how things will be better for everyone once the problem is addressed.
Step 3
Why are you convinced this is the right thing? Convince yourself first, but at the same time, challenge yourself. What could be reasonable objections and who is likely to raise them? What will you say to address them? How will this be done – individually, in a staff meeting, with a specific ministry group, etc.? Capture your thoughts in writing.
Step 4
Rehearse what you plan to say. Even say it out loud. Maybe do it in front of a mirror – note your body language. If possible, you can even engage a trusted colleague, perhaps another priest friend and share this with him.
Step 5
Share it with others who need to support your vision and are involved in it (your team/staff).
The exercise above may be limited in that it is focusing on one issue. In order to establish a vision, you may need to create a bigger picture of several issues/concerns and tie that together into a coherent vision. To do this, you could repeat this exercise with several issues and then use a final practice session to tie it together into one cohesive presentation to your team. Don’t expect a miracle. This is difficult. As with the apostles, it may need to be repeated multiple times, but the final result will be worth the effort.