“A plan in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out.” Proverbs 20:5
The writer of that Proverb reminds us of the importance of having knowledge in regard to moving one’s plans out of the deep recesses of the heart to the surface to where those plans can be carried out.
Generally, the first step in seeing those plans carried out involves some level of vision casting. A lot of people have great vision. But you’ll never see your vision become a reality unless you communicate it well to others. Many great God-given dreams die in the vision-casting stage.
I’m going into a season in my leadership where vision casting is going to be essential. I think vision casting is always an important part of leadership, but there are certain seasons it’s crucial.
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Some leaders are just natural vision casters. It almost just oozes out of them. Other leaders (like myself) have to work at it.
Over the years, the most important lesson I’ve learned about vision is: Test it on a few before you cast it to many.
If I know I’ve got an important vision-casting message or meeting coming up, I’ll intentionally set up a handful of one-on-one meetings to lay out the vision in a much smaller atmosphere. And then I do two things:
1. As I’m casting the vision to them, I read their body language.
What makes them squirm? What makes their eyes sparkle? At what point do they lean across the table wanting to hear more? While the vision is the vision, how I say it and the order I say it in is important, and I often readjust quite a bit just by watching people in these mini-environments.
