1) Visioneering is the process of receiving a God-given dream and making it compelling enough to mobilize others to help realize and implement it over time. 2) Producing a great vision requires embracing God's power and having confident expectation that God has prepared good works. A strong vision is God-ordained, memorable, inspiring, and can be broken into achievable goals. 3) The vision-making process involves creative brainstorming, identifying champions, communicating the vision, assessing progress, and action planning with priorities and timelines.

1. Lesson 4
Visioneering
Introduction
One of the major heart cries of this generation is the need for visionary leaders:
“Give to us clear vision that we may know where to
stand and what to stand for – because unless we
stand for something, we shall fall for anything”.
Peter Marshall (US Presbyterian pastor 1902-1949)
Isaiah 46:9-11
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
what I have planned, that will I do.
I define visioneering as:
“the process of receiving and incubating a God-given dream and subsequently making it
compelling enough to mobilize others who become passionately engaged in its progressive
realization, implementation, and evaluation.”
Activity 4.1.
What do you think is the impact of this well known vision statement to both employees and
customers?
Levi
People love our clothes and trust our
company. We will market and distribute
the most appealing and widely worn
apparel brands.
Our products define quality, style and
function.
We will clothe the world.
I. What mindset is necessary to produce a great vision?
A. A mindset that has overcome the limitations of its personality.
1.The Analytic or Cool Blue gets mired in details, is rigid and quick to dismiss vision as “pipe
dreams”.
2. The Driver or Fiery Red can become over-stretching and put strain on self and/or others.
They can be too insistent and dismissive of conflicting input.
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2. 3. The Expressive or Sunshine Yellow may have their vision poorly defined. They might find
it difficult to settle on one idea. They may ignore practical considerations.
4. The Amiable or Earth Green may go for what’s safe. They may be reluctant to rock the boat
or disrupt others. They often will prefer familiar routine.
B. A mindset that embraces God’s magnitude (Eph. 3:20).
C. A mindset that knows that God has already prepared good works for us to do (Eph
2:10).
D. A mindset that has confident expectation (Ps. 2:8).
E. A mindset that recognizes God’s incomparably great power at work in us (Eph. 1:19).
II. What are the attributes of a strong vision?
A. A strong vision is God ordained (Is.46:9-11)
B. A strong vision is widely shared.
C. A strong vision is memorable.
D. A strong vision often becomes a conviction.
E. A strong vision is attractive, inspiring and motivating.
F. A strong vision is worthwhile.
G. A strong vision can be broken down into effective goals.
Effective goals are characterized by:
1. they are clear and specific
2. they are written down
3. they are measurable
4. they are time-bound
5. they are challenging but attainable
6. they are supported by appropriate rewards
H. A strong vision is achievable albeit challenging.
III. What does the vision-making process involve?
The vision-making process may consist of aspects of this 5 Step Process:
Step 1: Building the Foundations
• Receiving from God
• Acknowledging your history
• Building your visioning team
• Defining the Values and Purpose Underlying the Vision.
Step 2: Visioneering
• Creative brainstorming and collating the output.
• Identifying those who will “champion” the vision (Initiators).
Step 3: Sharing the Vision
• Communicating and engaging others
• Creating mechanisms to make the vision stick
Step 4: Making Strategic Choices
• What do we need to start doing?
• What do we need to stop doing?
• What needs to be unlearned?
• Assessing the vision to reality gap – where are we now in relation to where we want
to be?
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3. • What resources do we have and what challenges/obstacles do we face?
• What strategic choices do we now need to make?
Step 5: Action Planning
• What are the priorities? Who is going to do what and by when?
III. What are the major hindrances to visioneering?
A. An inability to engage with the abstract future.
“Visions are too general and non-specific.”
B. Not making time for it.
“I have no time for all this visioning.”
C. Fear of change.
“Why rock the boat.”
D. Fear of accountability.
“I don’t want to restrict myself by writing it down.”
E. Confusing results with process.
This is where the difference between process and outcomes is unclear in our minds.
F. Inability to monitor progress.
This happens when you don’t know where you are at with regards to goal achievement.
G. Lack of alignment between goals and rewards.
Often companies will change their goals but not realign the rewards.
H. Not seeing visioneering as a systemic process.
It’s a holistic approach where what’s written on the wall is happening down the hall. The
vision statement is reinforced by the values, culture, and reward systems. It is seen in what is
measured and celebrated throughout the organization.
IV. What are the key questions in the monitoring and evaluation of vision alignment?
Go through this process, adapted from Ian Mc Cormick, to assist you in monitoring where you
are with regards to vision alignment.
A. Our Vision
1.What values does your organisation use to guide its behaviour?
2.How widespread is this view in your organisation?
3.What will people be saying about your organization 5 years from now? Suppliers;
Customers and Newspapers?
4.What is the vision of your organisation? (What do you intend to become in the next 5
years?)
B. Our Mission
1. What is the mission of your organisation? (How do you intend to realize your vision?)
2. What is your reason for existence?
3. Who are your customers?
4. How will you measure your success?
5. What are your controlling/regulatory bodies?
6. How are you positioned?
C. Our Team
1. What major changes would have to take place before your vision can be fully realized?
2. Highlight what things need to be changed in your organisation? (Both leaders and
members)
3. In what ways do your leadership team members complement each other?
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4. 4. What are the competence gaps in your current leadership team?
5. If your leadership team were to increase in size, who would the possible team players be,
and what value would they add to the team?
D. Our organisation
1. List 3 things that give you the greatest satisfaction in the organisation?
2. List 3 things that bring you the greatest dissatisfaction in this organisation?
3. What in your opinion is special and unique about this organisation?
4. How do you think the organisation is seen by those who are not a part of it?
5. What would you like this organisation to be known for in 5 years time?
E. Our culture
1. The clarity of our common vision
2. Our sense of mission
3. The leadership style
4. The quality of our training and development process
5. The quality of our orientation process
6. The morale of the people
7. Practising what we preach
F. Our Relationships
1. Our internal relationships as a leadership team
2. Our relationship with those we serve
3. The sense of “Us” and “Them”
4. Your sense of belonging
5. The quality of our communications
6. Your own personal growth
G. Our Systems
1. Our financial position
2. Our financial systems
3. Our financial integrity
H. Our Structures
1. The balance between chiefs and Indians
2. The effectiveness of our current organizational structure
3. The sense of liberty
4. The sharing of work
I. Our Resources
1. The use of your gifts and skills
2. The use of our buildings
3. The use of our money
J. Our Activities
1. The quality of our programmes
2. The quantity of our activities
3. The effectiveness of our activities
4. The alignment of our activities to our vision and values
K. People
1. People’s enthusiasm
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5. 2. People’s involvement
3. People’s commitment
L. Public Awareness
1. Our visibility with the public
2. Our reputation with the public
3. The goodwill we have from the community
4. Our contribution to the community
Further Study
For a more comprehensive study on Visioneering see the School of Ministry Vision & Values
Course by Bill Scheidler.
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