[Blog] Casting Vision 101: How to Communicate Vision Effectively

By Sam Chand

It’s certainly possible to have a bold vision but communicate poorly. Genesis 37:3-11 recounts Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, and the other brothers knew it. He had two dreams about the future of his family and his role in it, but he should have kept his mouth shut. When he told his parents and brothers, it was the wrong message for the wrong audience! The first dream was about his brothers bowing down to him, and they reacted, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” (v. 8) And they hated him even more. His second dream included his parents bowing to him. His dad, Jacob, wasn’t any happier than the brothers: “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” (v. 10)

The brothers didn’t wait long to put Joseph in his place—a deep, dark place. They sold him to a passing caravan and into slavery. Yes, God had a plan for the young man that was fulfilled in his time in Egypt, but we shouldn’t overlook the insensitivity and immaturity of his youth.

Leaders need to understand the difference and the relationship between chronos and kairos: chronos is time—sequential, using a clock and a calendar; kairos is timing—tailoring the right message to the right people at the right time. We need to bring people along, pushing and pulling them enough to make progress but without going too slow or too fast. We need to be clear communicators.

Don’t be too slow, and don’t be in a hurry. Don’t assume your trust account is full; make deposits before you share your heart and your vision. Farmers don’t plant seed without plowing and disking the soil to prepare it. Then they carefully plant the seeds to assure maximum germination and growth. The metaphors in the Scripture about leadership are primarily farming and shepherding. Both require a future orientation, patience and persistence. Vision casting is a fine art, one every leader needs to develop. As we’ve seen, stories are essential. They stimulate the imagination and give people a mental image of what has happened, so they can then connect with the vision of what can happen.

When leaders lead, God works, and the world is changed.

This blog was extracted from How Leaders Create Chaos: And why they should! Get the book and take the next step in your leadership journey at SamChandBook.com.