To be a boss, I don’t have to know where we’re going. I just have to be the person that leads the search.

Jad Abumrad – RadioLab founder

I find great comfort in this quote. As much as I dislike the word “boss” when it comes in reference to me, I am a leader who is often called upon to give a direction, make a decision, offer an opinion. I get it and am fine with it. But if I am quite honest, my strength isn’t necessarily knowing where we are going, but rather being okay with the messy middle between start and finish. Here is something I wrote about three years and continues to be my guiding light when it comes to visionary leadership:

Vision is a key for any group.  One of my primary roles is to communicate where we are going and why.  I believe that vision comes from God through the gifts and graces, the neighborhood and network, and the passions and desires of a local congregation.  My job is not to come up with the vision but to identify it within the people of First Church and then to communicate it. 

Therefore I see myself in the role of archaeologist and not visionary! I dig around in the stories of the congregation to find gifts and graces and identify where God is at work and then point in that direction.