Seeking God’s heavenly vision is a lifelong endeavor, and throughout the quest to define yourself as a Christian leader, exploring God's vision for your life, your career, and your impact on others is crucial. Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 6 states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” As leaders, a great source of power comes in constantly reminding ourselves that we are first followers of Jesus. For great leaders, this takes form by asking questions, leading by example, and taking action for others. In this article, we will discuss how asking the right questions and establishing your role as a follower of Jesus improves your effectiveness as a leader.
Leaders Asking Questions
Focusing on God’s plan for our purpose and our service to the world takes dedication, and this curiosity brings Christians together; in active participation with our relationship with God, we often find ourselves asking questions. In the Bible, over three thousand questions are asked!
Seeking the Lord’s heavenly visions for ourselves leads to questions like “What is God’s plan for me?”, but a more important (or perhaps more impactful) question to ask shifts the focus from a passive question, to an active one: a leader’s heavenly visions for the world leads to questions like “What would God have me do?”. Participating in God’s heavenly vision for you takes action, and the first step towards that action often looks like listening and asking the right questions.
If you are struggling to find the answers you are looking for (be it from employees, customers, operations, or competitors in your business), you may find that taking a step back and evaluating the questions you are asking allows you to refocus your heavenly vision. Great results in business require that the people making decisions are paying attention, but with so many balls in the air a great “reset button” to push is asking the question, “What would God have me do?”. This question can be expanded on. If you are struggling or stuck in your leadership role, action and answers can be found in asking,
What would God have me do first?
What would God have me do for others?
What would God have me do to heal?
What would God have me do to show more love and understanding?
Matthew 22 verses 36 through 40 describes a moment of questioning, and Jesus provides an answer:
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
So many answers can be found by highlighting love, and a great way to show love is by listening. Ask questions and seek answers through prayer and scripture, and God’s vision for your role and your leadership may become more clear. Power in leadership comes asking the right questions and listening.
Leading As A Follower Of Jesus
Trusting in God’s plans takes hard work, especially as our faith in His plans is tested. As a leader, it is important to reflect on, talk about, and focus on God’s presence in your goals, values, and work. Ultimately, seeking a heavenly vision may be boiled down to focusing on how God is present in your life now and in the future.
Following in Jesus’s footsteps, the role of a good leader is explicitly described throughout the Bible through stories of His forgiveness, integrity, love, humility, and obedience to the Lord. We are called to live like Jesus over and over again throughout scripture. To bring God’s presence into your life, follow in Jesus’ footsteps by prioritizing prayer and serving others.
Pray And Spend Time With God
Luke 6:12
In these days He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God.
Jesus spends time praying and talking to God throughout the struggles and trials He goes through in His life. Often, we read of Him spending time alone, praying. Taking time to slow down and be with God is a habit to develop as a leader living like Jesus.
2. Serve Others
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Jesus’ servant leadership favors others before Himself, and by living as a follower of Christ, leaders should focus on ways to help heal, develop, and understand the community around them.
So what is the impact and power of leading with a heavenly vision?
Leading with a heavenly image means creating culture on your team. This is grounded by the love and understanding you seek to cultivate through intentional questions that make room for action. It also means inspiring others in their own heavenly visions. Share your strategies and goals with your team. Give them insight to the personal steps you are taking, and make room to lead by example by being vulnerable. Implementing forgiveness, compassion, trust, faith, love, perseverance into your everyday practices and long term habits takes focus and ultimately, effective leadership has a vision.
If your effectiveness as a leader is struggling, finding a strong support system can make all of the difference . Proverbs 11:14 states “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers”. Convene members benefit greatly from a community of experienced, successful, like-minded Christian leaders who bring insight and perspective to member groups where vulnerable discussions drive success. Convene’s goal is to seek God’s wisdom and consistently innovate to best accomplish our mission, vision, and values. If you are looking to bring your faith into your work and maximize the results of your business, join a Convene group and connect to other leaders following their heavenly vision.