The Power of Vision

-Our webinar this week was a technological roller coaster - we spent about the first five minutes thinking people couldn't hear us when they actually could. Thanks, everyone, for the phone calls & emails letting us know you were hanging in there with us! Anyway, our topic this week was "pursuing vision" for the sake of organizational change. We argued that in today's culture, ideas (especially "moral ideas" that shape who we are, what we value, and what we are being called to do & be) - more than any other tangible or intangible factor - determine the effectiveness of an organization. Ideas matter because they motivate and mobilize people; without them nothing much happens.

In the Pensacola Business Journal last week, Adam Ziglar told the stories of several minority women who have become role models in business. These stories illustrate the power of vision to motivate and mobilize.   

Margarita Vazquez grew up in Spanish Harlem in New York. Today she is the regional vice president of Primerica Financial Services and is writing a book called "Surviving the Concrete Jungle." She believes one of her greatest achievements was to "be a Puerto Rican who got out of Harlem and never used drugs." Margarita is involved in Take Stock in Children as a mentor and the Girl Scouts. What motivates her? A vision: I want these kids to see "who they can be and how special they are." 

Grace Resendez McCaffery was widowed with two small children. Instead of letting despair overwhelm her, she went back to school. Today, she is publisher of La Costa Latina and serves as public information officer for Escambia County. What keeps her going? A vision: "I would like to help this community become more diverse in a way to change with the least amount of stress as possible so that we can learn to appreciate each other." 

Ana Abney was the first minority of color interviewed for a nursing position at the White House in 1993. She is the corporate vice president for organizational excellence for Baptist Healthcare. What drives her? A vision: "It grieves me to live in the richest nation in the world and to see people not living an abundant life. Jesus came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly." 

What dream is motivating you? How about the people in your organization? 

Nothing is more powerful or more necessary than a vision of what could be - will be - if you do what you are being called to do.

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Join us for our next free webinar on "Action! for the sake of organizational change" on Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Click here for more information and to register today.

Comments

[Suzanne Swanson]

I have a vision of our church being focused on the needs of those outside the church. The hungry, those in need of basic things, those who need care and support. Yet, we are faced with budgets, bills, transition. We seem to be fixated on ourselves rather than others. This is a daunting task....