I was scanning blog entries for last week's release of my book Church Unique (on Favebot.com). I ran across a a interview on vision with Nelson Searcy on a blog called Visional Life. Here are my two favorite snippets:
Cultivating a vision:
Where does vision come from? Vision can flow from a number of sources:
* Experience: Because of what I have learned from the past, I have a vision for the future.
* Inspiration: Because of an imaginative or spiritual spark, I have a vision for the future.
* Analysis: Because of my analytical study, I have a vision for the future.
The key point on vision is that it is unique to every leader. My vision must be cultivated out of experience, inspiration, or analysis. If you borrow a vision, you are simply managing another person's vision, you are not leading. To borrow a vision is to fail to lead.
Verbalize clearly:
If you can't say it clearly, you don't know it completely. You may think that the vision makes sense, but your mind will fill in the holes of the vision without you being aware. When you verbalize the vision, you've taken the important step of examining the holes and resolving them – for yourself and for others.