Last month at the Missional Renaissance Leadership Community, each city team (this Leadership Community differs from other ones in that this one is city-based and includes mayors, CEOs of major businesses, etc) to describe their BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that would help carry them into the future. This is what drives this Leadership Community. Here are three tests Reggie [McNeal] and I put before the group to test whether the vision was right for them:
1. Passion. Do you wake up thinking about this? Is it what you think about as you drift off to sleep? Does the vision pepper your conversations throughout the day?
2. Attraction. When other folks hear the vision, the response is, “Wow! Don’t leave me out! What role can I play. The attraction test fits very well with the idea that everyone wants to change the world but few people are given the opportunity to do so. A compelling vision invites others–even outside the church to take part. The leaders of every domain of a community could see how they could play a part.
3. Direction. Is the vision specific enough that it informs you “what to do next” or “what I need to do today” to get closer to the vision’s fulfillment. Vision is like the “North Star” in that it gives direction more than a destiny but the right vision also contains a “North Pole” element also... which is an actual destination. Direction allows goals to be set and progress to be measured.
My personal vision / mission is “to engage the church worldwide in the needs and dreams of their communities so as to bring about spiritual and societal transformation.” So hopefully my time and my life is structured to see that vision become a reality.
-- Eric Swanson, Missional Renaissance Leadership Community Co-Director @ Leadership Network
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