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conversation about what the future might look like and where they want the organization to go. These discussions, in and ofthemselves, have the potential to release the energy inside people. The dreaming creates it, and the invitation to the conversation releases it. Good leaders know that an entire culture can be ignited by the discussion about what’s next.
    Leading an organization requires a
    collaborative discussion about vision,
    reality, and strategy.
    Many leaders are afraid of opening up this type of dialogue. But sometimes fearing the wrong things can actually hurt us. And not having these widespread discussions ought to make us afraid.
    Collaboration is not abdication. Collaboration releases the energy and passions and unique contributions of people made in the image of God. It is a dynamic force that most leaders often vastly undervalue and therefore underutilize.
    Collaboration is not a promise; it is an invitation. Hearingpeople does not mandate that you will always follow what they say. But it is a significant way for you to value and engage people. It brings issues to the surface that need to be tackled (which is one reason most people prefer to avoid it), but more importantly it creates a shared vision that ignites the imagination and efforts of the entire team.
    Vision is a team sport. It is not a solo endeavor. Far too often, leaders present their vision to a group and then get confused when the progress seems slow or people are reluctant. Very few people are motivated when they are handed a vision. Most want to be part of determining and shaping that vision. And when you invite people to the table with you to do that, you deeply honor their dignity and the image of God embedded within them.
    Good leaders create momentum not just in the executionof the vision, but in the discussions leading up to the vision. I see a lot of leaders who spend enormousamounts of energy trying to rally the troops and get people fired up to implement the leaders’ vision. Even from simply a practical point of view, they would save themselves a boatload of effort if they engaged people from the beginning rather than after the vision was decided.
    Vision is a team sport.
    This process of determining vision can seem like it takes too long, but I would submit that exactly the opposite is true. Pushing people is a lot more work than running along with them. When you ask them the questions and involve them in shaping the future, you treat them like partners, not subjects.
    We spent nearly a year shaping our vision at Axis (to state the obvious, we did not set aside our regular ministrywork while we were doing this). We involved not just our leadership team, but scores of key volunteers and regular attendees in the discussions. We began by gathering groups of people and asking three questions:

    1. What is going so well in the ministry that you’d like us not to touch it for fear we might mess it up?
    2. What is broken and either needs fixing or needs to be shut down?
    3. What are the things we are not yet doing that we ought to consider for our future?

    People were honored to be invited, excited to be asked, and full of ideas to the point of bursting. Those three questions and the opportunity to talk about them together catalyzed an energy within the group that was palpable. We probed their answers, took notes, and paid off our promise to keep them updated.
    We took our staff and interns away for a couple of retreatswhere we considered the information we had gathered at these group events. We prayed, we talked, we listened. And after considerable time, we wrote:

    Axis strives to be a vibrant, authentic community of Jesus followers who seek to impact our world by helping our friends discover Jesus and serving our neighbors in need.
    Community. Evangelism. Serving.

    I remember being in the living room of a friend’s house overlooking Lake Michigan when about twenty of us looked at that statement on a flip chart. There was a brief