Last week I wrote that I’ve been reading a book that many consider a classic – Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This is my first time to read it, and I continue to find great leadership principles that are very applicable to my life. This is part 2 in a “mini-series” of posts here on the blog regarding some of my thoughts about these principles and how I think they are applicable in my context as well as in your leadership. (You can see part 1 here if you missed it.)
The second of Covey’s habits is to begin with the end in mind. He writes “Begin with the end in mind is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.”
Any leader know that vision is a mental picture of what could be. Leadership involves casting vision, painting a picture of the preferred future that creates passion in people. But that process has to start – and it starts with this habit. Begin with the end in mind.
I think back to when I first came to Southview. I could see immediately that several things needed to change – starting with implementing background checks on volunteers who worked with kids or students. I began with the end in mind. Ultimately, I wanted us to create environments for kids that were clean, safe, and fun, where they could hear truths from God’s Word taught at their level. That was the “end” I had in mind; getting there involved multiple steps and multiple projects.
We talk a lot about environments at Southview, something Andy Stanley has written about extensively in his book Deep and Wide. We don’t control the work of the Spirit of God in a person’s life, but we do control the environments at Southview – and we know that environments can be a key factor in someone hearing from (or not hearing from) God. If they are distracted by clutter, disorganization, disorderly words or actions, a lack of harmony, or unkempt spaces, then they are less likely to spend time focusing on what we’re communicating verbally. We want to create (as much as possible) distraction free environments, where people can come, see, and hear a message that is consistent in the environments, actions, and words of the people at Southview. That’s the end we want to see happen. By beginning with the end in mind, it helps us develop systems that get us there. From our First Impressions team to our Hospitality team, from our Kids Worship team to our Kids check in process, we strive to have systems that are intentionally designed to help people focus on the message, not be distracted by something else.
Sometimes there are multiple “good” options – which do you want? Either can be a good answer in some cases – but unless you choose, you’ll never reach the “end” you could have achieved had you focused.
Begin with the end in mind. That’s helpful advice for visioning, for systems design and implementation, for leadership development – even for personal development! What kind of man do I want to be? What do I want said about me at the end of my life? What kind of husband and father do I want to be? By knowing the answers to these questions, we can then evaluate what we do now and see if it’s moving us in that direction or away from it.
Have you determined what you want the desired “end” to be in your leadership, organization, or personal life? What steps are you taking to move that direction?
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