During the pastor’s sermon at my church this past Sunday, something in the corner of my eye briefly caught my attention. Our church meets in a venue that is a concert hall 6 days a week, and it turned out that the distraction was a piece of confetti drifting down from the rafters. As far as I could tell, our pastor didn’t notice. It certainly didn’t interrupt the flow of his message.

Leadership vision is a funny thing. Leaders need to stay focused and not be distracted from the main thing. At the same time, they need to have their antenna up so that they are aware of changes in their environment that may call for adjustments in their priorities. Too much focus can turn into tunnel vision that puts the church or ministry at risk by ignoring significant changes. But devoting time and energy to every distraction will create organizational paralysis or the chaos of constant changes in direction.

So how can you stay focused and yet not miss what’s happening on the periphery?

• Be clear about the main thing. It’s impossible to focus if you don’t have clarity about the vision and the priorities for reaching the vision. 
• Establish listening conduits. A listening conduit is anything that gives you connection and insight into your church and your mission field. This can include times when the leader is intentionally listening or other people who are invited to be eyes and ears for the leadership team.
• Create appropriate filters. Good listening conduits will bring in a wealth of information, which can be overwhelming. So there also needs to be a way for the leadership team to filter out those little pieces of paper that are nothing more than a distraction while at the same time retaining information that appears to be important.
• Conduct regular strategy sessions. How often do you and your team review and revise your church or ministry’s strategy? I’m not asking about the meetings where the plan is developed. Regular strategy sessions are an opportunity to decide if any of the new information calls for adjustments in your plans.

Sure, it was just a little piece of paper that was easily ignored. But it helped me clarify some thoughts about leadership vision. What do you need to do to improve yours?

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