# 3 The Leader & Vision
A leader brings an indispensable gift to a group: he or she brings the blessing of vision. A leader can see things not as they are but as they will be. As someone has said, the role of a leader is to keep hope alive.
Stephen Covey defines the difference between a manager and a leader, “The leader climbs the highest tree in the forest and shouts out to the manager down below, ‘We’re in the wrong forest.’ The manager replies, ‘Keep quiet, I’ve just got them all working.’” Leaders are concerned with direction. Managers are concerned with action.
As leader of your group God will give you a vision for that group. Your work as a leader is to release that vision into the ownership of others.
by Phil McCallum
Read on to learn how to make vision a part of others.
Nehemiah’s greatest problem was not the soot-scorched stones that lay in heaps around Jerusalem. The greater obstacle was making his vision of new walls around the Holy City a vision first of the king and then of the intimidated citizens of Jerusalem.
The book of Nehemiah is a masterful study of casting a vision into the hearts of the people.
Nehemiah carefully cast his vision. First he waited on God for over four months. Then he made a calculated risk of being sad in the presence of the king.
When he reached Jerusalem, he was patient to give the leaders of the city time to put confidence in him as a leader before giving them a vision to follow.
The result was not just a leader with a vision, but a people with a vision:
So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. Nehemiah 4:6
First a leader stirs the people to dislike what they have long tolerated.
Nehemiah did this when he pointed out the rubble that the people of the city had learned to walk around and ignore. Nehemiah’s intolerance opened their eyes.
The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." (Nehemiah 2:16-17)
Without a high level of dissatisfaction, vision will be unwelcome. Just as hunger makes a any meal palatable, so dissatisfaction opens the soul to the gift that leaders bring.
What disturbs you as a leader? What prayers do you need to pray and words do you need to speak to help others to see what is so obvious to you?
George Barna calls vision “a picture of a preferable future”. A secure city wall keeping out the thugs of the land certainly was a preferable future.
Nehemiah gave the leaders a picture they could not see on their own. It took a leader to help them to see.
What makes the vision you as a leader can see preferable to present reality?
Vision alone can become frustrating because the ideals can be out of reach. An effective leader needs to break vision down into manageable first steps.
Nehemiah had a plan for rebuilding. Each household would rebuild the section of the wall nearest to their home. It was a brilliant plan. Not only was it manageable, but also it assured quality workmanship. Who would want a weak wall near their own house!
How can you as a leader break down the vision into pieces small enough to fit in each person’s back yard?
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