Listen to Insight

APRIL 22, 2019

LEADERSHIP, VISION & STAYING CONNECTED

We have spoken in the past twelve weeks about principles requisite for the fulfilment of a vision. Put differently we have been discussing key principles every transformational leader needs to take account of on the road to achieving personal and corporate destiny and vision.

We listed the twelve principles at the beginning of our study series and today we have reached the twelfth and final principle. These principles (not their exegesis or explanations) were taken from the works of the late Dr. Myles Munroe as well as  Dr. Abu Bako, as seen in TLS 89. Their books from which these principles were taken are:

• “The Principles and Power of Vision: Keys to Achieving Personal and Corporate Destiny” MUNROE, MYLES
• "Seven Fundamental Questions" BAKO, ABU

What is the twelfth principle that needs to be taken into account when pursuing personal or corporate vision? 

THE TWELFTH PRINCIPLE

The twelfth principle is “Stay Connected to the Source of Vision”. Why is this an important principle? To understand adequately, I would have to refer you to TLS 80-86 where we discussed vision in depth and defined it as well as looked at its etymology which opened up to us the source of all vision. In these we discussed vision, its etymology and definition, its formulation, its characteristics and its link to inspiration.

WHY STAY CONNECTED TO THE SOURCE OF VISION?

The first reason is because vision itself is supernatural and if we disconnect vision from its supernatural source it will die like fish out of water.

DEFINITION

First thing we learnt from TLS 81 s that vision is defined in the book, The Servant as Leader by Robert K. Greenleaf as “…the overarching purpose, the big dream, the visionary concept, the ultimate consummation which one approaches but never really achieves. It is something presently out of reach; it is something to strive for, to move toward, or become”.

TLS 83 explains that as per an article in the Global Journal of Management and Business Research titled, The Role of Strategic Vision Process in Business Development in Nigeria authored by Dr. Ilesanmi O. A., a vision is “a shared mental framework that gives form

to the future of an organization…A vision is simply a picture of what the company would like to become. A vision is a mental picture of a now and better world that the manager wishes to create. A vision is a mental image, in that it is something that the manager carries around in the head to bring about the desired changes in the society.  Vision specifies a destination and not a route. The vision of the organization refers to the broad category of long term intentions that the organization wishes to pursue. It is broad, all inclusive, and futuristic. Vision is a general statement of intended direction that evokes emotional feelings in venture member. Vision is clear perception especially of future developments.”

ETYMOLOGY & CONNECTION TO SOURCE

In TLS 81 and 82 the etymology of vision was captured as:

• • something seen in the imagination or in the supernatural," from Anglo-French visioun,
  • Old French vision "presence, sight; view, look, appearance; dream, supernatural sight" (12c.),
  • from Latin visionem (nominative visio) "act of seeing, sight, thing seen,"
  • The meaning "sense of sight" is first recorded late 15c. Meaning "statesman-like foresight, political sagacity" is attested from 1926”

From the etymology, one can deduce the source of vision as supernatural. Vision transcends natural sight. It is seeing things not yet physically visible. The source of vision is thus supernatural.

The second reason to stay connected to the source of vision is it proceeds from God who is life. Anything that disconnects from life dies.

Death here is used in the same sense as:

Genesis 2:17 (AMPC)  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

When man disobeyed the supernatural divine command and ate, he separated himself from the divine and his spirit died. In like manner, vision proceeds from God (for the wicked it may proceed from the Dragon also known as Satan or the Devil). Separation from the source will lead to the derailment or complete abortion of vision.

TLS 82 had the following to say about vision and its source:

In discussing vision, no academic book I have come across looks at the fact that as per the etymology of the word, vision is supernatural sight—seeing the naturally unseeable. Dreams are not of physical/natural origin—but rather of super-natural origin.

Job 33:15 (AMPC) [One may hear God's voice] in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while slumbering upon the bed,

The scripture tells us plainly that God is the source of real vision. If this is true what happens when leaders do not stay connected to the source of vision? The answer is simple, they cut off the vision from the realm and person of its sustenance.

The last reason to stay connected to the source of vision is that it is the source that inspires. Disconnection from the source results in expiration.

INSPIRATION

TLS 85 and 86 show us that vision comes by inspiration. In TLS 58, we saw from The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual that leadership is, “influencing people—by providing purpose, direction, and motivation—while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.” Webster’s 1828 dictionary explained that “influence denotes power whose operation is invisible and known only by its effects, or a power whose cause and operation are unseen”. The cause of influence is inspiration. Influence is derived by inspiring others not manipulating them.

The etymology of inspire (v.) is traced back to mid-14c., enspiren, "to fill (the mind, heart, etc., with grace, etc.);" also "to prompt or induce (someone to do something)," from Old French enspirer (13c.), from Latin inspirare "blow into, breathe upon," figuratively "inspire, excite, inflame," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). 

To inspire is to "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" or to breath spirit into a thing, an idea etc. Expire on the other hand is for a thing to lose its spirit or life. The process of inspiration is unseen as per the etymology and definition because it is beyond the natural realm. It is same with the process of expiration which takes place when one disconnects from the source of inspiration.

CONCLUSION

Marine animals came forth from the water bodies. Their source material is the water. Mammals like dogs and goats came forth from the earth. This is their source material. So long as the created thing stays connected to their source material, they live. Fishes cannot disconnect themselves from water bodies for a long period and expect to survive. Dogs and goats cannot disconnect themselves from the earth and go live in water for long periods of time. To do so would be result in death. In like manner for leaders to fulfill the vision, they must stay connected to their source material, that is, the supernatural God from whom vision proceeds.