The Three Key Leadership Processes

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© John F. Carter, Ph.D.

There are three key processes in any kind of leadership situation: vision, politics and
management. All three are necessary for effective leadership and where only one, or two are

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present there is always some deficiency. You may wonder why politics is included, since it has a
negative connotation for most of us. This will become apparent below.

Vision

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Vision is where leadership begins. It can be argued that without vision there is no true
leadership. "Where there is no vision, the people perish," scripture says (Pro. 29:18). But what

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is a vision? Is it a set of goals, a "to do" list, the demands of your current role or ministry
assignment, the building project you are working on, a strategic plan for the future of your
ministry, a mission statement? Vision is none of these. It is an image of the future as you would

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desire it to be. It is your ideal picture for your life and ministry. Your mission is what you wish
to accomplish, your vision is how things will look like when you have done so.

A vision statement is expressed in the present tense as though it were already true. If everything
could be as you would want it to be in your ministry, what would it be like? For instance, a
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pastor might say:
In five years there will be 300 in regular attendance. We are experiencing a vital
evangelistic outreach to the community and souls come to Christ during each service.
Spiritual growth is evident among a majority of church members and committed lay
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leaders are taking their place in ministry. As pastor, I have opportunities to touch the
lives of many through my preaching and teaching and I see tangible evidence of the
effect of the church upon the moral and spiritual tone of the community we serve.
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This is your vision. It is not what your church and ministry is now, but what you want them to
become in the future.
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Your vision guides your progress. It is your passion--it sets before you an ideal toward which
you are striving. It is God given--this is what you believe God has called you to bring about in
your ministry. It is biblical--God's word affirms the vision. It is practical--though not within
your immediate grasp, you believe that the vision can become reality. It is written down--you
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keep it before you as a reminder to yourself and your team of where you are headed.

Once clarified, the vision is shared with others who are involved in your ministry. It gains
strength as team members accept it and consensus develops. The vision becomes theirs and
together there is unity in working together to bring about the vision. Problems are minimized
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when people work with a common vision that is greater than their personal interests. When you
have the horizon in view, you are less inclined to pay attention to the imperfections in the
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 Christ often shared vision statements with His disciples. "Follow me and I will make you fishers
of men." "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." "Whoever believes in me . . .

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streams of living water will flow from within him." These gave them a sense of what the future
would be as they incorporated His life and teaching into their own.

Concepts related to vision include faith, risk, belief, emotion. People with a vision move

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forward in faith--believing the vision can be realized. They take risks to achieve the vision.
They communicate with passion their commitment to it. All these are necessary to bring the
vision into being.

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Yet, vision alone is not enough. Vision alone can lead to disillusionment if the person with the
vision cannot bring it into reality. That's where the other leadership processes come in: bringing
a vision into reality requires political and management skills, as well.

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Politics

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We tend to have a negative view of politics, especially within the church context. Usually, we
conceive of politics as a self-serving exercise of power and influence--people trying to get their
own way regardless of who may be hurt. Certainly, in this sense, there is no place for politics in
the work of God. But, there is another aspect to politics. This is the process of including others,
developing consensus, reaching agreements, and fostering loyalty--in other words, building
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teams, making friends and energizing cooperation. It is in this sense, that political skills are
necessary to leadership.

Can you imagine leading a church with the members at odds with you and themselves? When
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relationships deteriorate to that level, there is no leadership and whatever the vision, the church
or ministry is not going anywhere. The ability to build relationships and develop common
purpose among your team members, and those who follow your team, is vital to ministry
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success. Without political skill, there will be no opportunity for the vision to become reality. As
vision is a product of emotion, politics is a product of the will. We choose to include others, we
choose to reach out even to those who may stand against our vision in order to eventually forge
them into the team effort, we choose to seek to overcome differences and disagreements through
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openness and a willingness to listen and change. These are the skills of a leader who is moving
people toward the vision.

But, to be skilled in the political process alone leads to self-interest, manipulation and cynicism.
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There must also be vision to give authentic purpose and meaning to the political process. And,
finally, there must also be management if everything is to come together.

Management
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The final process in the trilogy of essential leadership processes, is management--the ability to
make things happen--to plan, to organize and to effectively employ resources. I have met leaders
who had ample vision, but were frustrated and discouraged because they didn't know how to
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bring it into reality. Either they couldn't mobilize cooperation and team effort (politics) or they
didn't know how to guide the process in an effective manner (management). Someone once said
 that a vision is worth only a few dollars, but the ability to bring the vision into reality is worth
millions!

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But management alone is associated with caution, preserving resources and maintaining the
status quo. A manager who lacks vision can stifle creativity and lead to a static, lifeless process.
Management must be given life by vision, and opportunity by political ability.

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Summary

Let me summarize the effects of a lack of any one of these or any combination as follows:
 Without vision - no goals

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 Without politics - no opportunity.
 Without management - no progress.

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But,
 With vision alone - disillusionment.
 With politics alone - self-interest and cynicism.

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 With management alone - lack of creativity and no openness to change.

So what do you do if you judge yourself to be a person strong in one aspect, but lacking in one or
both of the others. In fact, most leaders will not be adequately skilled in all three areas, or one
area may be ahead of another in the leader's development. The answer is to surround oneself
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with team members who possess the qualities the leader lacks. A leader strong in vision but
lacking in interpersonal skill or management ability would do well to add persons with these
qualities to the team. A strong manager may need a people-oriented associate to handle the
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"political" dimensions of the ministry, and so on. The one quality most needed by the senior
leader is vision, so the team will know where the ministry is headed, but the other aspects can be
acquired in the team mix. The key is to know where you are strong and where you need to add
the strength of another to your ministry team.
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