Communication and Leadership

We have been working toward an understanding of what a vision is and how that is developed in us for leadership. We also looked at the concept of priorities and realizing that we must focus on the things that are most important for us to do as the leader or the vision will never be realized. Now we need to look at aspects of team development: communicating the vision, working with people and managing conflict.

When we improve our ability to communicate, we increase our ability to lead.

So how do we communicate this vision to others? As leaders we are responsible to unite a team of people to carry out the vision. Thankfully, God brings the right people into our lives at the right time to make this happen, which tests our trust in Him as well as our determination to obey no matter what. Our connection to this team will depend on our ability to communicate: learning to listen, learning to value their input, learning to shape our vision into words and word pictures, and learning to persuade and motivate. The leader really acts as a model, organizer, cheerleader and coach to understand how each member of the team works, use their skills and knowledge effectively and challenge them to do more than they thought they could do!

Remember that communication happens at many levels, one-to-one, small groups, large audiences, in writing, in speaking, with words, with attitudes, with tone of voice, with body language... each one is essential for the complete message and effective leadership! If you do not feel ready to speak in front of a group, don't worry. This takes time and practice; but you can still work on your communication skills in many other ways!

We will look at this more in our next session and then you can begin an assignment:
Prepare a 5 minute presentation which presents a vision for ministry in a way that will challenge and motivate your audience or small group to join you. This presentation should engage the mind as well and the emotions of your audience so they can see what you see and feel what you feel regarding the task ahead.