Design, according to Andrew Gibbons (2014, 49) is “a process of making decisions.” Smith and Ragan (Smith 1992, 4) add that design is “a systematic or intensive planning and ideation process prior to the development of something or the execution of some plan in order to solve a problem.”

At times, the appearance of “flying by the seat of the pants” rules the approach to leading. The nature of successful leadership, however, requires a dedicated effort to establish a systematic method for developing and executing a plan.

To design the direction of leading means a consideration of three essential qualities:

Vision: the ability to see what cannot be seen, or perhaps as spiritual leaders, seeing Him who cannot be seen.

Collaboration: the ability to work with others and the willingness to incorporate their ideas provides a strong development process.

Ingenuity: creativity goes a long way when investigating the design process involved in making decisions.

While more could be included in this list, these three qualities go far in understanding how to take leadership to the next level.