Any engine can run on fuel for a little while, but there’s one small component that makes or breaks an engine.
The filter.
When sailing an open ocean, it’s all wind and sails. It’s coasting and cruising. But upon arriving at port the sails come down and the motor comes on. This is usually when the engine dies.
You see, the fuel tank gets sloshed and turned while tossing in the waves. Sediment is stirred into the fuel, and when the captain turns the engine on all that fuel sediment is sucked into the fuel filter.
In a few short moments, the filter is clogged, and the engine dies.
The result can be catastrophic.
The same is true for school leadership. For days and weeks, a school can coast and cruise on its core work, but decision-points require the leadership to use the filter – the vision statement.
The vision statement is the filter through which all decisions pass. When that filter is weak, fragile, or inoperable, the decisions are ineffective and can cause engine failure.