I was leafing through one of my old notebooks today (one of the tedious benefits of unpacking after a move - I have had to look at everything I haven't thrown away and evaluate it again before stuffing it in a box or on a shelf where it won't be looked again for the next five years). This notebook was a loose, unintentional chronicle of my early days with the Journey. (Not the point of this post - but what a great ride the last three years have been. I have been destroyed and rebuilt by the gospel in ways I could never have imagined four years ago - Thank you Father God!)
Now the point of this post: I took notes from my first Leadership Summit in 2006. I had not read Courageous Leadership and was still pridefully disdainful of all things "seeker friendly" and "Willow." I have since repented.
I take notes in a strange way, I suppose - I doodle more than manuscript. And I found in my notes a picture of a bucket with a crack with a simple phrase: Vision Leaks.
I had never thought about the need to cast and continually and creatively recast vision - because people simply do not stay envisioned. In my Christian education leadership days, I would grow frustrated - especially with those were supposed to be leading me - that they seemed to lose sight and enthusiasm. Those who worked around me daily were continually having their buckets refilled because I was continually pouring vision out. It wasn't really intentional - I was just drunk with it. I was genuinely excited about what God was doing and what he would do... but the board and the church would become detached from the daily struggles and successes - and of the steady progress toward our preferred future - and I often failed to do much more than simply castigate them for being short sighted.
I realize now that their struggles were the result of my lack of leading up (another term I have learned that has proven tremendously helpful).
Another thing hits me about this - my vision leaks too. I get tired. I become mechanical. I become lazy, misguided, distracted, and selfish.
As a result I can see a clear need to continually have my own bucket refilled too. I have started identifying people who can serve this purpose in my life - dudes who call out of me my best and challenge me to step up my game.
So, just some random thoughts... how are you doing with keeping people's buckets continually refilled? How are you doing it so it stays fresh, authentic, and inspiring? How are you doing with refilling your own bucket?
Now the point of this post: I took notes from my first Leadership Summit in 2006. I had not read Courageous Leadership and was still pridefully disdainful of all things "seeker friendly" and "Willow." I have since repented.
I take notes in a strange way, I suppose - I doodle more than manuscript. And I found in my notes a picture of a bucket with a crack with a simple phrase: Vision Leaks.
I had never thought about the need to cast and continually and creatively recast vision - because people simply do not stay envisioned. In my Christian education leadership days, I would grow frustrated - especially with those were supposed to be leading me - that they seemed to lose sight and enthusiasm. Those who worked around me daily were continually having their buckets refilled because I was continually pouring vision out. It wasn't really intentional - I was just drunk with it. I was genuinely excited about what God was doing and what he would do... but the board and the church would become detached from the daily struggles and successes - and of the steady progress toward our preferred future - and I often failed to do much more than simply castigate them for being short sighted.
I realize now that their struggles were the result of my lack of leading up (another term I have learned that has proven tremendously helpful).
Another thing hits me about this - my vision leaks too. I get tired. I become mechanical. I become lazy, misguided, distracted, and selfish.
As a result I can see a clear need to continually have my own bucket refilled too. I have started identifying people who can serve this purpose in my life - dudes who call out of me my best and challenge me to step up my game.
So, just some random thoughts... how are you doing with keeping people's buckets continually refilled? How are you doing it so it stays fresh, authentic, and inspiring? How are you doing with refilling your own bucket?
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