Alignment and Vision

This is the second part in a series of blogs on alignment. As I described in my previous blog, organizational alignment is both powerful and elusive. When all the different parts – departments, systems, and individual people – are working together in the same direction, your church, ministry or non-profit will soar to new levels of effectiveness. Of course, “working together in the same direction” requires knowing what that direction is. When the vision isn’t understood deeply and widely, alignment is impossible. The “vision” that I’m talking about here is not just a vision statement. It’s much more than that. The typical vision statement is short and memorable. At its worst, it’s generic and doesn’t reflect the organization’s heart. But even at its best, it requires “interpretation.” A leadership team may spend hours to prayerfully discern the direction in which God is leading their church or ministry. In the resulting vision statement, every word is packed with meaning. Those who have been involved in the process understand this meaning, but what about all the other staff members and volunteers who are leading specific programs or groups? If the vision is not interpreted for them, how will they know what adjustments to make in order to be aligned with the vision? Consider a church that has “evangelism” as a central part of its vision. They may not use the “E” word, but the vision statement includes a short phrase that conveys their intent to reach out to unchurched people in the community. Because of the visioning process, the leadership team knows that this means a highly relational approach in which every small group in the church becomes much more welcoming. But the only way this shift will occur is if the vision is made clear to those small group leaders and members. They need to be told what it means. They need to see examples of the new model. They need to experience the changes themselves. When this happens, this vision will truly start to take root. Ultimately, anyone in leadership (and many others) should be able to say, “This is what the vision means for my role. Here’s what I’m doing (or doing differently) as a result of this vision.” Can the leaders in your church or ministry say that? It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>