Limited Perspective Minimizes Our Vision

I went upstairs for the night and was about to go to bed when I noticed I left my laptop power cord upstairs by the bed. Rather than take it downstairs with my laptop, I put the power cord by the stairs with the intention of grabbing it in the morning on the way down.

When morning came, I went through my typical routine. I’m not a morning person, so I schedule just enough time to shower, get dressed, brush my teeth, and comb my hair (breakfast is a bonus). I finished my tasks, headed downstairs to grab my bag, and realized…I forget my power cord upstairs.

How could I forget my power cord? I put it in the most obvious place I could put it with the intention of NOT FORGETTING IT.

It’s intriguing how we can miss the mark so easily when our perspective is obstructed or distorted. I overlooked my power cord, because my head was up and my speed was fast. No matter how intentional I was to remember my cord and to ensure that it was the in the perfect place, I missed it.

Vision is no different.

Establishing vision is challenging itself. Determining what it is we desire to be, aspiring to achieve it, and inspiring others to cast and carry that vision is difficult. The process of defining vision is as important as the vision itself.

I challenge you…lift your head up and look around you. Do not conjure a statement or paragraph labeled “vision” behind your desk. Copying someone else's statement won't get it done. Believing your have a creative tag line that everyone will embrace and love is naïve. 

Engage your leaders and your team. Their histories and gifts are invaluable and will contribute, like it or not, to the vision, culture and outcomes of your organization. Limiting your perspective will narrow or distort the vision that your team will lead.

Need guidance with the process of defining a clear organizational vision or mission. We're here to help. Let us know how we can help here.

20 Church Forms You Might Need To Correct

For the month of January, church leaders were hurrying around trying to get all of the 2021 year-end reports finished so they could be filed with the various government agencies on time and sent out to all of the different places that the forms needed to go to. 

During this month I have been receiving telephone calls from some of the church leaders, and the telephone calls go something like this. “David, I just finished sending off the church’s Fourth Quarter 941 Payroll Report and I found a mistake, what do I do now?” or maybe “David, I think I made a mistake when I filed the W-2’s for our church, what do I do now?”        

That is a good question, “I made a mistake, what do I do now.”

Some of you might say, “I use a payroll service so all of my forms are correct.” That is not always true.  After working with many of the major payroll services for the past 30 years, mistakes do occur.  Mistakes can happen on the part of the payroll service and on the part of the person giving the information to the payroll service. Others do not use a payroll service and there can be mistakes made there as well.

The church is also involved with many forms that need to be filed with government agencies that do not involve the ongoing payroll.

I have attached a file for you that compares the forms that might have submitted and what you need to do to update them.

DOWNLOAD THE FILE HERE

I cannot cover all of the possible forms that there are. If you have a form that I did not mention and need some help, contact me by clicking here.