Leadership:Without Buy-In, the Vision Perishes

  And the Angel of the Lord appeared to [Gideon], and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Judges 6:12All leaders have vision. But all people who possess vision are not leaders. A compelling vision alone will not make someone a leader. Nor will a great vision automatically be fulfilled simply because it is compelling or valuable. Followers need to buy into the leader. Once Gideon possessed the vision to deliver Israel from its enemies, he still needed to get the people to buy into his leadership. Even though the vision was ordained by God, it still required time and action from Gideon. Ultimately, so many people bought into Gideon’s leadership so completely that God had to send a bunch of them home to make sure He got the glory for their victory.

Just because a person has vision and occupies a leadership position doesn’t necessarily mean that the people will follow. Before they get on board, they have to buy in. And that doesn’t happen in an instant. Buy-in is an ongoing process.

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