40 WESTERN PALLET
Faith, Hope, Rest, & Vision
Picture this: Flathead Lake, Montana. The mountains loom, the fog hangs heavy in the early morning air—so much that I can’t tell where the steam from my coffee ends and the fog begins.
My soul seems to cry aloud, with the rocks and the hills, the eight-point buck stalking through the trees, the osprey skimming the water, and the sunrise coming up over the mountains—together echoing the ancient words of the psalmist.
In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are also His. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us worship and bow down…
-- Excerpts from Psalm 95, NASB
It’s annual planning time again and I couldn’t be happier to be back here—it’s like a pilgrimage for me. There’s just something about the mountains and the lake that brings rest to my soul. But it’s not a normal rest like you might get on a Saturday. There’s something spiritual here. Over the years, this has become a place of grounding for me.
“Alright. Let’s get started,” I said to the team.
As everyone settled into their chairs on the deck, overlooking the lake, I started the session.
“Okay. Why are we here?” I asked.
Everyone’s minds rifled through the list of possible answers: the beautiful setting, annual planning and vision casting, a corporate retreat, great coffee, huckleberry scones, trust-falls…
“To help individuals and organizations elevate and thrive.”
It was Bobby, the new guy we had just brought on as our COO and Integrator.
“Nicely done, Bobby,” I said, congratulating him—clearly, he’d been paying attention. “It all starts with WHY.”
People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.
-- Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
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The world moves at breakneck speed, and everyone has a lot going on. It can be challenging to pull yourself out of the day-to-day to work ON THE BUSINESS. But whoever it was that said it first said it right: Hope is NOT a STRATEGY.
I know. I’ve been there. With everything clamoring for your attention, it seems like the right call to just show up and grind. But without strategy, you’re just wishing—without clarity of vision and purpose, your business is like a rudderless ship.
Hope may not be a strategy, but it is an important component of vision. And as a person of faith, I believe that my hope is more than mere wishing. Rather, my faith is the concrete substance that makes my true hope a reality. So then, it all starts with faith.
REMEMBER, LEADERSHIP REQUIRES THREE THINGS:
A vision of the world that does not yet exist
The ability to communicate that vision clearly
The resolve to keep going—and rally others—even when hope runs thin
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Food for Thought
When was the last time you stepped back to work on the business? How does your faith connect to the vision in your business? Can you communicate your vision clearly enough to build strategy and sustainability around it?