Is vision important in the midst of a global pandemic? Absolutely. In fact, it’s more important than ever. Why? Because, as Andy Stanley says, “vision leaks.”
The more challenges you face, the more resistance you encounter, the more obstacles you’re trying to overcome—the more you use up the tank of gas that’s in your vision. And unless you, as a leader, refill it for yourself and for the people you’re trying to lead, they’re going lose connection to that transcendent hope that keeps them in the race when they want to quit. So you’ve got to inject that vision. That presupposes that you have a vision that’s clear, and it presupposes that you keep talking about the vision.
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Back in the midst of the Great Recession, I had an executive coach who said to me, “You’ve got to keep speaking the vision.” So I did speak the vision. I did keep talking about the vision, even when it seemed impossible to accomplish. Finally, I went to her one day and I said, “I’m tired of hearing myself talk about the vision. You know, I feel like that’s all I’m talking about. I’m talking about the vision here, I’m talking about the vision there. Can I stop?” She said, “When you’re tired of talking about vision, you’re half done.” Why? Because vision leaks. If you don’t refill the bucket, nobody else is going to.
You may be the last best chance of achieving your vision, but you’ve got to give voice to it. Yes, even in the middle of a crisis.
