A leader could have the best strategy in the world but if he’s unable to make a choice on how to implement it his strategy will be meaningless.  And yet is precisely here that many of us struggle.  Making a choice seems irrevocable and sometimes choosing one way in preference to another seems like closing the door on perfectly good opportunities.  But then again not choosing is also a choice and it’s a choice that won’t bring us to where we need to go.  How does our faith in God help us with this dilemma?   How does it help us to be leaders who decide?

In the Gospel our Lord tells us to be as cunning as serpents and as simple as doves.  What does it mean to be cunning as a serpent and how could our Lord possibly want us to be cunning?  Anyone involved in leadership knows that leaders need to be strategic.  They need to think ahead of the curve and find a plan for achieving the great things that they set out to do.  Could this be what Christ meant?  How do Christians live and thinks strategically at the service of their love?

The ability to cast an effective vision is much more than coming up with great ideas.  Ideas require planning in order to be effective and planning requires choice and focus.  But as we all know our choice and focus can sometimes be wrong.  That’s because strategy itself depends upon our awareness.  Being alert, being aware, and being attentive is the secret for making great plans.  Let’s take a look at how this dovetails with our faith to help us lead everywhere in our lives. 

One of the most important aspects to any leadership is your ability to have ideas.  Casting a vision and showing where we want to go is essential to have anyone follow us.  But what is the difference between having ideas and having good ideas?  What makes a potential idea or a future vision something that is captivating and true?  Our Christian faith helps us here – God will help us to be temperate, to not be afraid to prioritize, and to be open to the great things he wants to do through us.

The easiest way to get lost in doing anything is to not know what you are trying to do to begin with.  Anytime we’re called to lead a project of any kind, our leadership begins with vision.  But what if we can’t find a vision?  Is there something deeper at the root of being able to cast a vision going forward?  There is – we call it the power to dream.  Dream is the power within a leader to reach forward to something which you do not yet possess and its roots lay in healing our ability to desire things. 

All great leaders dare to dream but what do you do when the dreams have gone dry?  Where does our power to come up with great ideas or great initiatives come from?  In the Christian view of leadership, it comes from deep within our hearts made in the image and likeness of God.  Which is why the redeeming power of Christ to heal us and our sense of ourselves is the key to unlocking our desire to dare great things for Christ.  Journey with us as we explore self-acceptance and its power to change our lives. 

There are a plethora of books and articles written about leadership today.  But most of them focus on leadership as if it were an individual enterprise – almost like something the leader does in a vacuum.  In fact, however, leadership requires leading others which means our relationship with others and ability to get them to join our cause is at the heart of what we’re doing.  Does our faith in Christ give us an advantage here?  How does a Christian leader form a team and motivate them to give the very best of themselves. 

The key that determines the success of every great endeavor is whether or not we actually do it.  Planning, scheming, dreaming, all of these things are fine but in the final analysis only doing a deed will get the deed done.  But getting things done is hard.  Things can arise that we did not plan energy can wane situations can change.  It’s a good thing that God is on our side and leading out of a place of faith helps you to bend and not break. 

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  The same could be said about the road to failure.  The difference between success and failure is often the ability to try.  But this is exactly what is difficult for many of us.  We can have the greatest intentions and the most noble aspirations but passing into action seems to be on of the hardest things to do.  Does faith offer us any remedy?  Does grace give us any advantage in taking the plunge of leadership? 

All of us want to be influential in our lives.  We want to be successful parents, great business leaders, powerful leaders in our community and we know that all of our influence flows from our actions and all of our actions flow from our intentions and desires.  But intentions are not good enough.  Great leaders know how to build on good intentions and make effective plans to really hit the mark.  Our Catholic faith shows us this in many ways and our faith can provide a priceless tool as we fight for vision.