June 5, 2025 • 46 mins
What happens when God gives you a vision but the path forward isn't crystal clear? Marquissa Williams, founder of Elevate Leadership Enterprises, shares powerful insights on discovering and executing your divine calling even when uncertainty looms large.
Drawing from over two decades of corporate leadership experience and her role as an executive pastor, Marquissa reveals how she recognized God's pattern of placing her in pioneering positions throughout her life. "God created you to lead, to show others the way," she recalls hearing, a message that transformed her understanding of her unique purpose as a change agent in both ministry and marketplace settings.
The conversation takes a practical turn as Marquissa outlines her four-part framework for bringing vision to life: vision, strategy, execution, and impact. She emphasizes the critical practice of pausing to listen and journaling what you hear from God—something that feels awkward at first but yields tremendous clarity over time. "Consistency bred what I needed," she reflects on her own journey to clarity.
For leaders facing resistance from those around them, Marquissa offers counter-intuitive yet transformative advice: "Build while you wait." This means quietly making progress through research, skill development, and preparation even when full support isn't there. She shares vulnerably about creating "PowerPoint presentations" for her husband when presenting bigger visions for her calling, illustrating how persistence and clear communication eventually win allies.
Most compelling is Marquisa's challenge to perfectionism and fear: "I double dare y'all to do it afraid," she declares, explaining how taking action despite uncertainty reveals that "it wasn't that hard" after all. She identifies regret, doubt, and unforgiveness as vision-killers that must be overcome through bold declaration of your purpose.
Mentioned during this Episode:
- Register for the Leadership Summit: https://bit.ly/ELE2025
- Book your Vision Talk: https://bit.ly/visiontalks
- Marquissa's website: https://www.marquissawilliams.com/
Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay connected and get updates! Thanks for listening to the Graced to Lead Podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Belinda Gaston (00:00):
Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast.
I'm your host, belinda Gaston,and listen.
Today's episode is all aboutvision, how to discover it, how
to trust it and how to moveforward even when clarity feels
a bit out of reach for you.
And I couldn't think of abetter guest for this
conversation than my friend andfellow leader, Marquissa
(00:21):
Williams, soon to be DrMarquissa Williams.
Marquissa Williams soon to beDr Marquissa Williams Listen.
Marquissa is the founder ofElevate Leadership Enterprises,
a leadership and organizationaldevelopment firm that equips
leaders to fully execute theirpurpose with clarity, strategy
and impact.
She brings over 20 years y'all20 years of corporate leadership
experience.
She serves as an executivepastor in Philadelphia and is
(00:44):
currently pursuing a PhD inindustrial organizational
psychology.
She's also a certifiedChristian counselor, life coach
and the best-selling author ofVision Strategy Execute, an
impact journal for leaders, andthe book DNA in the Church
Community Discover howdiscipleship, nurturing and
(01:04):
accountability influence churchgrowth In other words, y'all.
She knows what she's talkingabout and I am so excited to
have her on.
So if you've ever found yourselfasking God, what are you
calling me to do?
Or sitting on a vision that youfeel that God has given you,
but it's too big, or you're toouncertain, this is definitely
(01:25):
the episode for you, so are youready?
Let's get into it.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
I am Belinda Gaston, your host,and listen.
I'm excited about thisconversation that we're having
(01:46):
today.
Today, we have none other thanMarquissa Williams On Marquissa.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
Marquissa Williams (01:55):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited, Belinda, I amsuper excited just to be here.
It's truly an honor.
You know people say it, youknow as a formality, but really
it's an honor to be a part ofGraced, to Lead.
I know your heart for this andyour heart for women in
leadership and I'm just going tosay no pressure, no pressure at
all, but it's truly an honor tobe here and thank you so much
(02:18):
for having me.
Belinda Gaston (02:19):
Oh, I'm excited and y'all listen.
I know I already told you herbio in the intro, but Marquissa
is special to me because she'sactually a friend and so I am
really honored to have you,Marquissa, and we're going to
jump right in, and I think it isimportant that we start at the
beginning.
So I'm going to ask you,Marquissa, if you could tell us
(02:42):
a little bit about your journeyand how you came to understand
your God-given vision.
Marquissa Williams (02:51):
Well, my journey into leadership, as I
know it now, is that I've alwaysbeen in these unique leadership
positions and unique spaceswhere I was one of the first
people to be a part of somethingnew, even as a teenager, even
as a child.
Growing up, you don't realizethis is what you're doing,
(03:11):
You're organically just beingyou and all the things.
However, I realized that therewas just something definitely
different about me and I wouldask God the question like why me
?
No one has done this before, noone has seen these things
before.
I'm just feeling like I'm justkind of out here and so
(03:32):
realizing this God-given gift.
It was just consistency, thepattern of God, the pattern of
opportunities, you know, gettinginto situations that I never
even asked for, gettingpositions that I never even
raised my hand for or applyingfor, and I'm, like you know,
again asking God the questionand he did answer.
(03:53):
He says I created you to lead,to show others the way, to show
others that things can be done,show others that things can be
done, Because in theneighborhood that I lived in,
there wasn't a lot of people whowere, and it depends on how you
define successful, butsuccessful or paving the way, or
doing unique things.
(04:14):
It was always the status quoEveryone's kind of doing the
same thing, modeling after eachother, and I would just veer off
to the right or veer off to theleft and he said I'm just
calling you to do something new.
And so it was because of theconsistency that I saw God was
putting me in in these placesand these unique situations
(04:34):
where God is just moving me andnot giving me a chance to think
about it.
So discovering the God-givenvision is really having that
conversation with him andallowing him to guide me, but
also asking him the question andreally watching the pattern of
God and how he was just shiftingme places, even when I'm not
(04:54):
even thinking about it orwanting a particular thing.
Belinda Gaston (04:59):
Yeah, I'm so glad you shared it.
I'm glad we started this way,because I think, as a leader, we
spend a lot of time questioningGod where would you have me to
be, what would you have me to bedoing?
And you're starting off thisconversation about vision as
realizing that God has placedyou in certain spaces and things
(05:23):
were just happening and youwere just kind of flowing with
it, and so I'd like to ask youmore about this vision that God
gave you.
So God has given you a vision.
If you were to describe whatGod's vision is for you, what
God has said, Marquissa, youwill be a leader and you will do
(05:44):
what.
Can you tell me more?
Marquissa Williams (05:45):
about the what, absolutely being a change
agent, not just in ministry, butalso in the marketplace and
even within communities.
I believe God wants me to getto the root of things, to break
patterns, to make changewherever I plant my feet, to
encourage people to be able toknow that they can in fact
(06:10):
pursue a goal, find their ownvision, pursue their own purpose
.
I definitely believe I amabsolutely a change agent in the
world.
God has given me that visionand if I could just share a
little bit more, as you might'veread in my bio that I'm a PhD
student, right, and so I thoughtI was done with the master's
(06:32):
degree, was going to live mylife, and Holy Spirit kept
whispering organizationalpsychology, organizational
psychology.
And I'm like what is that?
He said, look it up.
Psychology, organizationalpsychology.
And I'm like what is that?
He said, look it up.
So I began to search and I waslike this really exists
organizational psychology.
So I started to see programs, Istarted to see all this
(06:58):
information and literally it waswhat God was showing me all
along that I need to getunderneath organizations, I need
to get underneath issues, tobreak barriers, to make change
so that people will havepurpose-driven lives and
organizations will besustainable.
So I'm like, not only does Godgive me the vision, but I'm able
(07:19):
to take on others' vision andhelp them to carry it out.
So that's where that changeagent comes into play.
I can shift atmospheres, I canbring order to wherever I go.
So I believe that is the visionthat God has given me and I'm
clear on it that I make change,positive change.
Belinda Gaston (07:39):
Yeah, and so I think it's amazing that you have
such clarity, and I know that'spart of what you do you help
other organizations with clarityof vision, with execution of
vision, and we're going to talkabout vision execution in a
minute, but I want to stay herebecause I believe that there are
some people listening who willsay, boy, I wish God spoke to me
(08:01):
as clearly as he spoke toMarquissa, spoke to me as
clearly as they spoke toMarquissa.
I mean, even down for you, ofgoing back to school, getting
your PhD, what you should bestudying, it would seem as if
there needs to be a way to getto where you are, where you have
this clarity.
And so for people who are inthe space where they're even
(08:24):
asking well, what is the visionyou have for me?
I mean, I know that I'm calledto lead.
Many of the women who arelistening are saying this I know
I'm called to lead, I'm inleadership spaces or I have
influence, or I have the abilityto make decisions for groups of
people or organizations, butwhat is the vision, lord?
(08:46):
What tips would you give forpeople to discover the vision
that God has given them?
Marquissa Williams (08:53):
And I'll say it doesn't come automatically.
It has to come withestablishing a relationship with
God.
We must set aside time to hear,not just to pray to God and ask
him the questions, but also totake some pauses to listen.
One of the things I found to besuccessful is writing Writing
(09:15):
what I hear, journaling what I'mthinking, journaling what I
believe God is saying, and thenbegin to hash it out, because
sometimes we might even hear andthen we go do the dishes, cook
for our family and it's gone.
So now we need to start writing.
We really need to write it down, but it has to first start with
(09:38):
having a relationship with Godand taking some time with God to
hear.
And again, it has to beconsistent, some consistency
with it, because sometimes wethink it's our voice and
sometimes it is, but once we sitin a spot we know for sure,
(09:58):
without a doubt, it's God who'ssaying these things to us.
The scriptures tell us firstseek the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all of thesethings shall be added unto us
Our desires, our hopes, ourdreams, all the stuff.
It will be added unto us, butwe have to seek him first to get
(10:19):
that.
I know that for some that couldbe super spiritual, but hey,
it's facts.
I'm living proof that it worksand actually writing it down it
comes from even a burden, if Ican take a page, even out of
Habakkuk.
When he's seeing all the thingsthat's going on, he's like God,
why are you allowing this stuffto happen?
You see all this and you knowhe has this conversation with
(10:42):
God.
He said, all right, I'm goingto go up to the tower.
I and you know he has thisconversation with God and he
said, all right, I'm gonna go upto the tower, I'm gonna wait
and see what you had to say.
And what did God say?
Write the vision and make itplain but I'll say this
practically when to processvision too and get clarity,
sometimes we just need a good,close sister, friend, seek and
(11:08):
wise counsel as well to be ableto help us with clarity.
Belinda Gaston (11:17):
I love that, and so I'm glad that you shared
this, because I know that thisis on people's minds.
So you talked about pausing.
You talked about therelationship with God.
It's interesting you areprobably the second or third
guest this season that hastalked about the power of the
pause.
That seems to be a theme ofpausing, hearing from God,
having a relationship with Godand journaling, and for our
(11:39):
listeners, let me just tell you,this works.
I was not much of a journaler,and my friend Marquissa here
gave me the same advice she justgave to you, which is have you
thought about journaling?
Have you thought about writingdown what you hear and making it
consistent?
And so, for me, I started outliterally with 10 minutes a day
(12:01):
of I'm just going to sit aftermy prayer time and write down
what I hear, and that 10 minuteshas now gotten longer.
I would add five minutes, addfive minutes, and now it is a
daily practice, and there issomething about journaling what
we hear and allowing God tospeak through journaling.
I have to say it's awkward atfirst, marquise, if you're not
(12:24):
used to doing this, becauseyou're like what am I supposed
to write about?
Marquissa Williams (12:31):
It takes a level of vulnerability and to
allow ourselves to be in thatawkward space.
All right, lord, I have mypaper, I have my pen.
Now tell me.
And that's what.
It doesn't come right away allthe time.
I believe that God wants us toshow up, even if he doesn't say
anything at first.
It's about waiting, waiting.
(12:54):
Even Habakkuk, he had to go,wait.
We just have to wait until hecomes.
It's a book that I read.
I don't know the author's name.
Off the top of my head, it'scalled the cloud of unknowing.
The author was an actual monkand he talked about how we
should get into places notexpecting anything, and sit in
(13:19):
these spaces of uncomfortabilityand getting quiet when we come
to God.
And so I'm a person I need toknow.
I need to know what's next,what color, what turn.
God, what do you want me to do?
I heard you All.
Right now, do the twist turns.
Tell me, right, left, I'll go,I'll go.
But what happens when he saysnothing at first?
(13:40):
We still have to show up in thenothingness and living in this
space of the cloud of knowing.
What is God going to even say?
And I think some of ussometimes we get caught up in
what if God tells me somethingand I can't do it?
It's going to terrify me, oryou know how am I going to tell
(14:01):
my family?
Or will I be able to understandit?
This unknowing space of writingand waiting and the pause is
uncomfortable because we're usedto yapping.
We're used to yapping, we'reused to talking, we're used to
asking.
But sitting in that quiet spacewill allow you to do that, and
sometimes we got to leave thehouse.
Belinda Gaston (14:25):
Wow, environment can matter, right you?
Marquissa Williams (14:28):
have to be strategic in how you do it.
When do they take a nap?
When do they go to sleep?
Are they on a play date?
We have to work around thosethings If we want the vision of
God to come to fruition, if wewant our purpose to be fulfilled
, come to fruition, if we wantour purpose to be fulfilled,
(14:49):
there's intentionality that hasto take place on our behalf.
God is not going to always justdrop it in our lap.
He may show us right and hemight give us a glimpse.
But then what?
He knows we have children.
He knows we have ministry.
He knows we have school.
He knows we have a husband.
He knows we have all thesethings.
But yet he still gives us avision.
How do we do it?
You have to listen and what wehear, what he's showing us, is
(15:17):
real.
Be obedient enough to do it,even with our knees knocking,
shaking in our boots.
Belinda Gaston (15:26):
we gotta do it and I have to say that the first
few times I did it I felt likeI didn't hear a thing.
But consistency bred what Ineeded and I also appreciate the
fact that we're sharing withleaders here that we often, when
we talk about God's vision, alot of times people think
(15:46):
ministry, people thinkspirituality.
But I also hear you sayingthere's practical advice.
If God can give plans forpeople in the Bible, he can give
plans to you, and the fact thathe gave you direction on school
and on your business means thatthere is practicality in the
vision if we seek it out.
Marquissa Williams (16:08):
Yes, yes, it's definitely practicality.
It doesn't have to be superdeep, right.
It doesn't have to be this bigold lightning bolt that's going
to come down and show us this.
You know, we're looking forsigns.
The bird is going to fly fromthe left to the right.
That's confirmation, right.
So, just being practical,starting small, and I do believe
(16:33):
something ignites andaccelerates the vision where we
have conversations, one with ourfamilies.
As women, we have a greatresponsibility and sometimes we
think, oh, I'll wait until thekids get older to do X, y and Z
or whatever.
But I believe that there's alevel of buy-in that our
(16:55):
families, our close friends willtake on when we begin to share
our heart.
I believe, when we share ourheart about our dreams, our
goals, that they will understand, they will empathize, they will
be in awe of what they find out, because sometimes they just
look at us as mom, they justlook at us in these one way.
(17:17):
But when you say I think I wantto write a book, you're talking
to your kids.
Or I think I want to do X, yand Z, I want to have a podcast,
I want to start this business.
Having those conversations withyour loved ones is a great
starting point to igniting thatfire, because now it's out of
your mind, it's out of yourheart and it's out of your mouth
(17:38):
.
I believe that those who trulylove you will help you and that
they will support you.
But sometimes we think, no, wecan't do that.
I can't do this right now.
The timing is not good.
But it also goes back to if Godgave us the vision it has to
happen.
But I think conversation withthose who we love will help.
(18:02):
It will get us to a startingpoint right, and I will say this
there was times when I shareddifferent things and it was like
my husband wasn't quite sold onit at first and you know, but I
felt better because I did shareit.
But then I started to livecertain things out, small, you
(18:23):
know, and small bites, and hestarted to see how it brought me
joy, how it made me smile, howit just gave me purpose, you
know, just talking to people.
So before I was, you know, theleadership, as they call me, the
leadership guru, the leaders ofleaders I was a counselor and I
still am a counselor, I'm acertified biblical counselor.
(18:45):
But it took a lot of my timeand so I had to relapse because
I was passionate about it.
I was going, going, going, butit was causing dissension and I
could be very honest in thehouse.
I was like God told me to dothis.
He's going to make it right,but God didn't tell me to overdo
it either and go against thethings.
That's forsaken myresponsibilities at home.
(19:07):
So I had to navigate throughthat and have some hard
conversations within myhousehold.
I had to navigate through thoseebbs and flows of moving into
the vision, navigating theresponsibility but also allowing
my family to see that thisthing is causing me great.
It just lit my whole life up tohelp families and marriages and
(19:30):
people who were just trying tohash out things, and so that was
the buy-in of my family, notonly just speaking it, but just
taking small steps into what Godwas showing me, to helping me
to do and show me what I need tobe doing in that season, and so
counseling was the springboardinto leadership for me.
Belinda Gaston (19:52):
Wow.
So let's talk about this.
We talked about how you hearthe vision, how you get the
vision, some practical tips onways you can make sure that you
have the vision.
But once you have the vision,let's talk about how you execute
the vision.
And so one of the things Iheard you say right up front,
(20:14):
before we even got to thisquestion you need that buy-in,
and I know that there are somewomen listening who are saying
listen, I've tried this andthere is no safe space for me to
share.
The people around me don't buyin.
They don't believe, they'renegative, they don't want me to
change whatever.
So I want to start with first.
(20:34):
I want to talk about executingthe vision in two ways.
First, let's talk about what todo if you have a vision and
you're ready to execute, but thepeople around you don't support
you.
I'd love to hear your thoughtsIf you could give one or two
practical tips that they coulddo.
If you have a vision, you knowit's from God, but the people
(20:57):
around you don't necessarilysupport it, and because it's
from God, we know that it mustbe done right.
So what advice would you givethose people?
First, and then we'll go intomy next question.
Marquissa Williams (21:09):
Yeah, there's always going to be
others that are not going to buyand it may not be your family,
it could be, like you said,those people that are just
around us, our close circle, thepeople that we're used to being
around.
The bottom line is this you'regoing to have to do it anyway.
It's never going to becomfortable, you have to do it.
But I will say you want to seekGod's timing, because sometimes
(21:35):
when God gives us the vision,we get excited and we just want
to jump in that swimming pooland start swimming and it's not
the right time.
And guess what?
When we're out of timing, we'regoing to drown real fast of
timing we're going to drown realfast.
But I do think it's somethingabout God's timing on when we
(21:56):
begin to execute.
So one of the things, one ofthe mantras in Elevate
Leadership right, we stand byfour words vision, strategy,
execution and impact, and Ibelieve that those are the steps
God gives us the vision.
We should have written it downand start processing it, praying
about it, eating it right,letting it be part of who we are
(22:19):
right.
And then the next step isstrategizing.
How do I do?
What I'm seeing, what I'msensing, what God is saying what
do I need?
So strategy is this.
What do I need to carry thisout?
We can't just jump from.
In most cases, from having thevision to fully executing it.
(22:43):
There has to be some steps inbetween to get to the execution
piece.
So the strategizing is it couldlook like you know, again
asking yourself what do I needto support this vision?
Is it money?
Is it networking?
Is it a skill?
(23:04):
Is it support?
You can ask yourself thosequestions because that's part of
your strategy.
It costs money to start abusiness.
It requires skill.
So God is going to give us ourgifting.
All of those.
It might be things we may needto sharpen.
We might need to take a class.
(23:26):
We might have to go full-blowncollege For of you like uh-uh,
I'm not going back to school,not me.
Uh-uh, no, ma'am, it might bethat, but it just might be a
course.
It might be a workshop.
It might be with a women'smentoring group, something
that's going to support you.
That's part of your strategy togain additional wisdom, to
(23:49):
sharpen your skills, of yourstrategy to gain additional
wisdom, to sharpen your skillsand to know the next things that
you need to do before you canexecute.
There has to be a plan in placebefore you can put feet to it
right, and so you got to seekwisdom.
Of course, I can say, seek Godall day.
(24:09):
That's first and foremost, butalso asking ourselves what do I
need to do?
Look around to some people thatyou might even admire and trust
, because there's people outthere that we admire.
We don't know, so we can'tnecessarily trust them.
Yet we admire, but we can tapin and see.
(24:30):
However, we should be alreadysurrounding ourselves with a
trusting source.
So that's how we would get fromvision to execution, starting
with one thing that we canexecute well and that could
potentially be hey, I have agift of speaking right, or a
(24:52):
gift of encouragement.
Go live for five minutes andencourage somebody, or to talk
about their passions on yourheart.
Seek out groups who are doingwhat you're doing, to begin
having conversations, because wecan't strategize in a bubble.
I believe God created us to beconnected to others who have
(25:15):
what we need to carry this out.
So the answer is what if peopledon't support it, you got to do
it anyway.
You just have to work.
Think about timing, of course,but also starting in small ways,
and just ask for peace about it.
(25:37):
There's always going to beresistance.
When there's change, there'salways going to be resistance.
When we branch out to do things, as human beings, we don't want
to disappoint others.
There's an area in most of ourlives we want to people please,
but when it comes to the thingsof God, when it comes to our
purpose, we consider thosethings.
(26:00):
Why people are not supportingflat-footed, 10 toes down,
knowing that this is what Godtold me to do and it's a risk
that we have to take.
And I'm just going to say thisbecause I guess I have a bird
too.
I hear as I'm talking.
You know, there are those likewhat if it's my husband?
What if it's my husband?
(26:22):
What if it's him?
Everybody else is supporting meand he's like no, I don't know
why this keep coming up.
Belinda, however, god is notgoing.
He's not an author of confusion, and sometimes we need to
(26:43):
quietly build, silently, makemoves.
This is not sneaking behindyour spouse's back.
This is not what I'm saying.
I was married for over 30 years.
That's not what I'm saying, andI had to do some of these
things.
So I really believe the answeris in writing.
(27:05):
Begin to write these thingsdown Silently, make moves, do
your research, build while youwait.
Build while you wait for thedoor to open.
God will make a way for thatdoor to open, for you to fully
execute.
(27:26):
But if you're not doing thework until you're fully released
, it's just not going to be done.
It's a scripture in Proverbsthat talks about planning, build
your house and then go out.
We have to plan while we wait.
(27:46):
Proverbs, chapter 24, verse 27.
And it simply says prepare youroutside work, make it fit for
yourselves in the field andafterward build your house.
Afterwards, build your house soit takes a level of preparation
(28:13):
.
Make it fit to get the buy-in.
We absolutely have to build.
Move silently as God leads,because the vision still has to
(28:52):
be built, it still has to beestablished.
It will be executed.
God gives us the vision for itto be done.
He does not give us somethingfor it not to happen.
Our plans are alreadyestablished.
God's hands is already in it.
So, even if our spouse does notbuy it yet, we build.
And I remember a time I'mtelling you I had to almost make
(29:14):
PowerPoint presentations forLinda.
I had to make a pitch to myhusband to tell him how
meaningful it was to me incertain things.
I mean some things.
It wasn't always hard, butthese big, the bigger vision.
You know being called topastoring, being called to be a
leader of leaders, being in acorporate.
(29:35):
You know a corporate leadertraveling all over the country.
You know when you're, when youfirst come together.
You know in a marriage, youknow you're like I didn't expect
all that.
You grow, you develop as yourown person and so does he.
So it's this evolution of whoyou are.
Happens that no one intendedfor it to happen.
(29:59):
Some kind of way you have tonavigate that Right.
So navigating the vision thatGod gave us I believe that's
kind of the title that we'retalking about.
How do we do this God givenvision?
How do we live it out whenpeople don't understand it, when
we halfway don't evenunderstand it?
(30:19):
We can take playbooks out ofNoah.
We can take playbooks rightfrom the scriptures.
Who does these things?
One thing we do know that ifGod gave it to them, those
individuals in scripture that wesee in scripture and it changed
, shifted how we even live today.
(30:41):
How much more can we shift ourculture, our churches, our
organizations, our householdsjust by listening to what God is
asking us to do and followingit out, even when people don't
(31:02):
understand.
Hannah, who prayed, prayed,crying out for this baby, and
they her own husband said whatyou were drinking?
No, no, no.
I'm praying to the heavensbecause I know what God is going
to do with this child.
Belinda Gaston (31:27):
I.
I feel like this is a momentwhere we pause.
I do this a lot, but just todigest, because you said a lot
here.
We talked about how you get thevision, some practical steps to
making sure that you get thevision that God wants you to
have.
The second thing we talkedabout is once you get the vision
it wants you to have.
The second thing we talkedabout is, once you get the
(31:48):
vision, it's important to have astrategy right, and you can't
do anything without thatstrategy, and so you gave some
practical tips for that.
So I think we and the othersteps that you talked about were
execution and impact.
So I think you've alreadystarted giving us some execution
steps, and one of them is tobuild while you wait, and that
(32:12):
is counterintuitive.
Like, what do you mean buildwhile you wait?
I mean I've got this vision andI have to.
I want to just go and do, Ijust want to do the things, and
now I have this strategy let'sgo, let's go, and you're like,
wait, you have to start small.
Go, let's go, and you're like,wait, you have to start small.
So, as we talk about executingthe strategy, I want you to give
(32:33):
, if you have any.
A few more tips on how we movefrom strategy to execution.
Marquissa Williams (32:39):
So, for execution, besides just doing
bring people in with you, right?
So I'm clear that everybody maynot have a team, but you need
to have a support system rightOf like-minded people that can
(33:00):
help you to execute what yourstrategy is.
So you know, for me it waslooking around and seeing what
gifts do I have at my disposalwho can help me to execute, you
know?
And it also goes into tappinginto resources, such as those
(33:21):
who mentor others into startingtheir business or executing a
plan, because sometimes we maynot know how to necessarily do
that.
We still need to seek wisdom.
As it relates to the executionpiece, it's really putting what
you have written down andstarting to move forward.
(33:41):
And again, it always for me, Ibelieve, it always starts in
small spaces, right?
So you know?
I'll just take an example of,let's say, we want to.
You want to have a conference,you know, a leadership
conference, women's conference,whatever, some gathering of
sorts, right?
So you know your vision isalready there.
(34:02):
I want to have this conference.
Then your strategy is what do Ineed?
I need a venue, I need speakers, potentially who's going to do
all those things?
Right?
And then to execute that, nowyou have to begin to put feet to
that by making the phone calls,reaching out to others for help
(34:24):
that can do these things foryou, starting to research and
then begin to just truly walk itout.
Execution is not hard if you'restrategizing properly, because
you're already asking yourselfthe people place things, who,
what, when, how.
You have those already in place, so now it's just moving it
(34:47):
forward, setting a time, settinga date and begin to take action
.
Belinda Gaston (34:52):
Execution is simply beginning to take action
to go from vision at least tothe first part of execution.
We don't have time to talkabout the rest of execution or
(35:14):
impact, but I would like, beforewe tell people how to connect
with you because thisconversation has been very rich
is I would like to give someencouragement because as we're
talking, I'm feeling this andyou kind of hinted to this a
little bit.
But there is a woman who islistening, who may be feeling
stuck, maybe waiting on clarity.
(35:36):
Maybe they even have the visionbut feel like they don't even
have the resources.
They're going through thestrategy process and realizing I
don't even have the resources,I can't move forward, and
sometimes, when leaders get inthis space and we have the
vision, it's easy to stop rightthere.
You get stuck in strategy.
(35:57):
So I'd love for you to sharesome encouragement to that woman
, that leader listening.
What would you tell?
Marquissa Williams (36:06):
her, the woman who's just waiting,
waiting on clarity.
I believe, if God gave you thevision, clarity there is already
set.
I think the foundation isalready, you know, set when we
think about clarity and I feellike getting clarity is still
(36:27):
going back to what I said beforeasking God what that is Right,
but also moving out of yourcomfort zone, taking a chance,
taking simply taking a chance,and ask how bad do I want this,
how bad do I want this, how baddo I want this?
(36:49):
It has to be fire in your bellyfor this right To do it,
talking to someone you know thatyou trust.
I believe sister circles areamazing.
Trusted sister circles can be awonderful thing to get
resources, to get knowledge.
But I would just say trust God,trust who you are, trust who
(37:18):
you are, trust the gifts thatGod has given you.
It doesn't have to be perfectand I think that's a barrier
that gets in our way, right,because we don't see all the
steps or it has to be just sothat we can't make a move.
Do it anyway.
(37:39):
Get rid of perfectionism, pushdoubt aside.
You know it's cliche, probablyjust do it afraid, but I dare
you, I'm daring y'all, I doubledare y'all to do it afraid,
because once you're on the otherside of that thing, you're
(37:59):
gonna be like, oh my goodness,it wasn't that hard or I didn't
realize I was gonna like likethis this much.
I'm going to do this again andagain, and again and again until
it becomes really a part of whoyou are and you get confident
in who you are, what you aredoing and what God you're going
to be like.
God, you was right, you wasabsolutely right, but you have
(38:23):
to take the step, you have totake the leap so you can see
what the other side is going tobe.
We cannot live a life of regret.
There are so many of us who are, even now, living in a life of
regret, but we don't have tostay there.
(38:46):
If I would have just graduatedhigh school, it would have been
this If I didn't have this baby,I would have been this by now.
Or if I wasn't.
You know, I'm too old, I'm toothis.
Get rid of all of that.
That is a lie from the pit.
It is a barrier.
(39:08):
Regret will suck the life outof you.
It will kill a vision.
Fear, doubt, regret,unforgiveness, not forgiving
ourselves are barriers.
It will kill the vision.
It will keep the vision justhovering, keeping you stagnant,
(39:32):
not moving.
It will paralyze you.
So for my sisters out there whoare like I, don't have enough
clarity, it's not going to beperfect.
God just wants you to take thefirst or two steps period.
He will guide you through therest.
(39:53):
God will never set you up tofail.
He will bring the resources,but you got to move.
You absolutely have to move andnot just move.
You have to speak it.
Say I am the leader, I am theteacher, I am the baker, I am
(40:20):
the business owner.
You have to speak it.
Life and death is in the powerof the tongue.
So you have to believe thisthing, this vision, before
anybody else.
Otherwise you allow others tosnatch it.
Snatch it right out of yourheart and it'll never come to
(40:43):
fruition.
So I'm challenging y'all I saidI double.
Dare y'all to not wait for thefull picture to happen.
Belinda Gaston (40:53):
This is a great note for us to end this
conversation.
You have the charge.
Marquissa has double dared youto go not only from vision to
get the vision, to write thevision down, but to begin to
take steps to execute.
Marquissa, this was an amazingconversation.
(41:16):
I think I'm going to have tohave you back for a part two of
this conversation, but in themeantime, I know that there are
people who are saying listen, Ineed to get in, I need to
connect with Marquissa.
You've lit a fire in somepeople that they needed to hear,
and so I'd love for you to tellus how we can connect with you.
(41:36):
If there's something you'reworking on that you'd like to
share, we'd like to hear thatnow.
Marquissa Williams (41:43):
You can connect with me on all social
media platforms with theexception of X.
You can find me at elevateunderscore leadership E-N-T.
So that's elevate underscoreleadership underscore E-N-T.
So it's Instagram.
You can do Facebook as well.
I'm actually on TikTok also.
(42:05):
I love TikTok, by the way.
I've created some great space.
I've met some great women inthat space.
However, those are the spacesyou can reach me.
You can find me on social media, but you can also go to my
website at marquissawilliamscomand there you will find services
that I offer as well and get achance to know a little bit more
(42:27):
about me services that I offeras well and get a chance to know
a little bit more about me.
I have a few things that arestirring.
It's so amazing that we'retalking about vision.
I have an offering calledVision Talks, where it allows
individuals to have a sessionwith me to hash out their vision
.
I said earlier on the podcastthat I have the gift of hearing,
(42:51):
capturing the vision of othersand helping them to map it out
into execution and strategizingand giving them a plan.
So the vision talks are a safespace where you can come and say
you know what.
This is what I think I heardand this is what I believe I
should do and we talk it out,and then from there you get a
(43:12):
plan, a brief plan or startingpoints after our conversation.
That will lead you into furtherstrategy and as well as
execution.
So that's Vision Talks.
How do you sign up for VisionTalks?
You can go to bitly slashVision Talks and that is where
you can sign up for a VisionTalks session to hash these
(43:34):
things out.
And then I have a leadershipsummit this year that I'm super
excited about, and it is forleaders who are building, who
need to re-strategize, and ourtheme, the word for this year,
is revamp to redo some things,to take a look at some things
(43:56):
that we've done before and do itover or heighten, or increase
or enhance.
And so that's going to be heldon July 18th of this year and
July 19th.
July 18th will be a night ofworship, and then we're going to
on the 19th, which is aSaturday.
It's going to be a day ofstrategy.
(44:17):
We're going to have fourphenomenal speakers.
Who's going to present varioustopics, from how to multiply
leadership I'm going to bespeaking about identifying the
gifts to build an effective team.
We're going to have someonethat's going to talk about seven
touches, what these seventouches will do to enhance your
(44:37):
ministry and enhance yourbusiness.
So this is both for marketplaceand ministry leaders.
And then we're going to talkabout a topic around why systems
matter in your ministry, notjust technological systems,
meaning strategies and processesand things like that.
Those conversations are goingto take place at the Elevate
(44:59):
Leadership Summit right here inPhiladelphia, pennsylvania, at
my home church, capacity Church,philly.
At my home church, capacityChurch, philly.
You can sign up for theconference at ly or bitly slash
(45:20):
ELE 2025.
That's bitly slash ELE, and ELEis, in all caps-E 2025.
We would love to have you inthe Philadelphia area and we're
just excited about what God isgoing to do at the Leadership
Summit this year.
Belinda Gaston (45:37):
Excellent.
So, leaders, if you'reinterested in connecting with
Marquissa all of the informationfrom her social media handles
to scheduling yourself a visiontalk, If you need some
one-on-one time to even comingto the leadership summit again,
the leadership summit is forbusiness owners, for those in
corporate spaces and also thosewho lead organizations in the
(45:59):
nonprofit space, as well asministry.
I'll put all of thatinformation in the show notes.
Marquise, thank you so much forbeing on the Graced to Lead
podcast.
This has been a phenomenalconversation, Thank you.
Marquissa Williams (46:12):
Seriously.
Thank you for thinking of me toeven be able to share on the
Graced to Lead podcast.
I'm just excited.
Thank you so much for having me.
Belinda Gaston (46:22):
Thank you and for our listeners, we appreciate
you, as always, for tuning intothe Graced to Lead podcast.
Remember you can share thepodcast, subscribe so you get
notifications.
You can find us on all of yourpodcast platforms, as well as on
our YouTube channel.
I don't take your listeningtime for granted, so thank you
(46:42):
and until we meet again.
Remember you are indeed Gracedto Lead.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast.
I'm your host, belinda Gaston,and listen.
Today's episode is all aboutvision, how to discover it, how
to trust it and how to moveforward even when clarity feels
a bit out of reach for you.
And I couldn't think of abetter guest for this
conversation than my friend andfellow leader, Marquissa
(00:21):
Williams, soon to be DrMarquissa Williams.
Marquissa Williams soon to beDr Marquissa Williams Listen.
Marquissa is the founder ofElevate Leadership Enterprises,
a leadership and organizationaldevelopment firm that equips
leaders to fully execute theirpurpose with clarity, strategy
and impact.
She brings over 20 years y'all20 years of corporate leadership
experience.
She serves as an executivepastor in Philadelphia and is
(00:44):
currently pursuing a PhD inindustrial organizational
psychology.
She's also a certifiedChristian counselor, life coach
and the best-selling author ofVision Strategy Execute, an
impact journal for leaders, andthe book DNA in the Church
Community Discover howdiscipleship, nurturing and
(01:04):
accountability influence churchgrowth In other words, y'all.
She knows what she's talkingabout and I am so excited to
have her on.
So if you've ever found yourselfasking God, what are you
calling me to do?
Or sitting on a vision that youfeel that God has given you,
but it's too big, or you're toouncertain, this is definitely
(01:25):
the episode for you, so are youready?
Let's get into it.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
I am Belinda Gaston, your host,and listen.
I'm excited about thisconversation that we're having
(01:46):
today.
Today, we have none other thanMarquissa Williams On Marquissa.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
Marquissa Williams (01:55):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited, Belinda, I amsuper excited just to be here.
It's truly an honor.
You know people say it, youknow as a formality, but really
it's an honor to be a part ofGraced, to Lead.
I know your heart for this andyour heart for women in
leadership and I'm just going tosay no pressure, no pressure at
all, but it's truly an honor tobe here and thank you so much
(02:18):
for having me.
Belinda Gaston (02:19):
Oh, I'm excited and y'all listen.
I know I already told you herbio in the intro, but Marquissa
is special to me because she'sactually a friend and so I am
really honored to have you,Marquissa, and we're going to
jump right in, and I think it isimportant that we start at the
beginning.
So I'm going to ask you,Marquissa, if you could tell us
(02:42):
a little bit about your journeyand how you came to understand
your God-given vision.
Marquissa Williams (02:51):
Well, my journey into leadership, as I
know it now, is that I've alwaysbeen in these unique leadership
positions and unique spaceswhere I was one of the first
people to be a part of somethingnew, even as a teenager, even
as a child.
Growing up, you don't realizethis is what you're doing,
(03:11):
You're organically just beingyou and all the things.
However, I realized that therewas just something definitely
different about me and I wouldask God the question like why me
?
No one has done this before, noone has seen these things
before.
I'm just feeling like I'm justkind of out here and so
(03:32):
realizing this God-given gift.
It was just consistency, thepattern of God, the pattern of
opportunities, you know, gettinginto situations that I never
even asked for, gettingpositions that I never even
raised my hand for or applyingfor, and I'm, like you know,
again asking God the questionand he did answer.
(03:53):
He says I created you to lead,to show others the way, to show
others that things can be done,show others that things can be
done, Because in theneighborhood that I lived in,
there wasn't a lot of people whowere, and it depends on how you
define successful, butsuccessful or paving the way, or
doing unique things.
(04:14):
It was always the status quoEveryone's kind of doing the
same thing, modeling after eachother, and I would just veer off
to the right or veer off to theleft and he said I'm just
calling you to do something new.
And so it was because of theconsistency that I saw God was
putting me in in these placesand these unique situations
(04:34):
where God is just moving me andnot giving me a chance to think
about it.
So discovering the God-givenvision is really having that
conversation with him andallowing him to guide me, but
also asking him the question andreally watching the pattern of
God and how he was just shiftingme places, even when I'm not
(04:54):
even thinking about it orwanting a particular thing.
Belinda Gaston (04:59):
Yeah, I'm so glad you shared it.
I'm glad we started this way,because I think, as a leader, we
spend a lot of time questioningGod where would you have me to
be, what would you have me to bedoing?
And you're starting off thisconversation about vision as
realizing that God has placedyou in certain spaces and things
(05:23):
were just happening and youwere just kind of flowing with
it, and so I'd like to ask youmore about this vision that God
gave you.
So God has given you a vision.
If you were to describe whatGod's vision is for you, what
God has said, Marquissa, youwill be a leader and you will do
(05:44):
what.
Can you tell me more?
Marquissa Williams (05:45):
about the what, absolutely being a change
agent, not just in ministry, butalso in the marketplace and
even within communities.
I believe God wants me to getto the root of things, to break
patterns, to make changewherever I plant my feet, to
encourage people to be able toknow that they can in fact
(06:10):
pursue a goal, find their ownvision, pursue their own purpose
.
I definitely believe I amabsolutely a change agent in the
world.
God has given me that visionand if I could just share a
little bit more, as you might'veread in my bio that I'm a PhD
student, right, and so I thoughtI was done with the master's
(06:32):
degree, was going to live mylife, and Holy Spirit kept
whispering organizationalpsychology, organizational
psychology.
And I'm like what is that?
He said, look it up.
Psychology, organizationalpsychology.
And I'm like what is that?
He said, look it up.
So I began to search and I waslike this really exists
organizational psychology.
So I started to see programs, Istarted to see all this
(06:58):
information and literally it waswhat God was showing me all
along that I need to getunderneath organizations, I need
to get underneath issues, tobreak barriers, to make change
so that people will havepurpose-driven lives and
organizations will besustainable.
So I'm like, not only does Godgive me the vision, but I'm able
(07:19):
to take on others' vision andhelp them to carry it out.
So that's where that changeagent comes into play.
I can shift atmospheres, I canbring order to wherever I go.
So I believe that is the visionthat God has given me and I'm
clear on it that I make change,positive change.
Belinda Gaston (07:39):
Yeah, and so I think it's amazing that you have
such clarity, and I know that'spart of what you do you help
other organizations with clarityof vision, with execution of
vision, and we're going to talkabout vision execution in a
minute, but I want to stay herebecause I believe that there are
some people listening who willsay, boy, I wish God spoke to me
(08:01):
as clearly as he spoke toMarquissa, spoke to me as
clearly as they spoke toMarquissa.
I mean, even down for you, ofgoing back to school, getting
your PhD, what you should bestudying, it would seem as if
there needs to be a way to getto where you are, where you have
this clarity.
And so for people who are inthe space where they're even
(08:24):
asking well, what is the visionyou have for me?
I mean, I know that I'm calledto lead.
Many of the women who arelistening are saying this I know
I'm called to lead, I'm inleadership spaces or I have
influence, or I have the abilityto make decisions for groups of
people or organizations, butwhat is the vision, lord?
(08:46):
What tips would you give forpeople to discover the vision
that God has given them?
Marquissa Williams (08:53):
And I'll say it doesn't come automatically.
It has to come withestablishing a relationship with
God.
We must set aside time to hear,not just to pray to God and ask
him the questions, but also totake some pauses to listen.
One of the things I found to besuccessful is writing Writing
(09:15):
what I hear, journaling what I'mthinking, journaling what I
believe God is saying, and thenbegin to hash it out, because
sometimes we might even hear andthen we go do the dishes, cook
for our family and it's gone.
So now we need to start writing.
We really need to write it down, but it has to first start with
(09:38):
having a relationship with Godand taking some time with God to
hear.
And again, it has to beconsistent, some consistency
with it, because sometimes wethink it's our voice and
sometimes it is, but once we sitin a spot we know for sure,
(09:58):
without a doubt, it's God who'ssaying these things to us.
The scriptures tell us firstseek the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all of thesethings shall be added unto us
Our desires, our hopes, ourdreams, all the stuff.
It will be added unto us, butwe have to seek him first to get
(10:19):
that.
I know that for some that couldbe super spiritual, but hey,
it's facts.
I'm living proof that it worksand actually writing it down it
comes from even a burden, if Ican take a page, even out of
Habakkuk.
When he's seeing all the thingsthat's going on, he's like God,
why are you allowing this stuffto happen?
You see all this and you knowhe has this conversation with
(10:42):
God.
He said, all right, I'm goingto go up to the tower.
I and you know he has thisconversation with God and he
said, all right, I'm gonna go upto the tower, I'm gonna wait
and see what you had to say.
And what did God say?
Write the vision and make itplain but I'll say this
practically when to processvision too and get clarity,
sometimes we just need a good,close sister, friend, seek and
(11:08):
wise counsel as well to be ableto help us with clarity.
Belinda Gaston (11:17):
I love that, and so I'm glad that you shared
this, because I know that thisis on people's minds.
So you talked about pausing.
You talked about therelationship with God.
It's interesting you areprobably the second or third
guest this season that hastalked about the power of the
pause.
That seems to be a theme ofpausing, hearing from God,
having a relationship with Godand journaling, and for our
(11:39):
listeners, let me just tell you,this works.
I was not much of a journaler,and my friend Marquissa here
gave me the same advice she justgave to you, which is have you
thought about journaling?
Have you thought about writingdown what you hear and making it
consistent?
And so, for me, I started outliterally with 10 minutes a day
(12:01):
of I'm just going to sit aftermy prayer time and write down
what I hear, and that 10 minuteshas now gotten longer.
I would add five minutes, addfive minutes, and now it is a
daily practice, and there issomething about journaling what
we hear and allowing God tospeak through journaling.
I have to say it's awkward atfirst, marquise, if you're not
(12:24):
used to doing this, becauseyou're like what am I supposed
to write about?
Marquissa Williams (12:31):
It takes a level of vulnerability and to
allow ourselves to be in thatawkward space.
All right, lord, I have mypaper, I have my pen.
Now tell me.
And that's what.
It doesn't come right away allthe time.
I believe that God wants us toshow up, even if he doesn't say
anything at first.
It's about waiting, waiting.
(12:54):
Even Habakkuk, he had to go,wait.
We just have to wait until hecomes.
It's a book that I read.
I don't know the author's name.
Off the top of my head, it'scalled the cloud of unknowing.
The author was an actual monkand he talked about how we
should get into places notexpecting anything, and sit in
(13:19):
these spaces of uncomfortabilityand getting quiet when we come
to God.
And so I'm a person I need toknow.
I need to know what's next,what color, what turn.
God, what do you want me to do?
I heard you All.
Right now, do the twist turns.
Tell me, right, left, I'll go,I'll go.
But what happens when he saysnothing at first?
(13:40):
We still have to show up in thenothingness and living in this
space of the cloud of knowing.
What is God going to even say?
And I think some of ussometimes we get caught up in
what if God tells me somethingand I can't do it?
It's going to terrify me, oryou know how am I going to tell
(14:01):
my family?
Or will I be able to understandit?
This unknowing space of writingand waiting and the pause is
uncomfortable because we're usedto yapping.
We're used to yapping, we'reused to talking, we're used to
asking.
But sitting in that quiet spacewill allow you to do that, and
sometimes we got to leave thehouse.
Belinda Gaston (14:25):
Wow, environment can matter, right you?
Marquissa Williams (14:28):
have to be strategic in how you do it.
When do they take a nap?
When do they go to sleep?
Are they on a play date?
We have to work around thosethings If we want the vision of
God to come to fruition, if wewant our purpose to be fulfilled
, come to fruition, if we wantour purpose to be fulfilled,
(14:49):
there's intentionality that hasto take place on our behalf.
God is not going to always justdrop it in our lap.
He may show us right and hemight give us a glimpse.
But then what?
He knows we have children.
He knows we have ministry.
He knows we have school.
He knows we have a husband.
He knows we have all thesethings.
But yet he still gives us avision.
How do we do it?
You have to listen and what wehear, what he's showing us, is
(15:17):
real.
Be obedient enough to do it,even with our knees knocking,
shaking in our boots.
Belinda Gaston (15:26):
we gotta do it and I have to say that the first
few times I did it I felt likeI didn't hear a thing.
But consistency bred what Ineeded and I also appreciate the
fact that we're sharing withleaders here that we often, when
we talk about God's vision, alot of times people think
(15:46):
ministry, people thinkspirituality.
But I also hear you sayingthere's practical advice.
If God can give plans forpeople in the Bible, he can give
plans to you, and the fact thathe gave you direction on school
and on your business means thatthere is practicality in the
vision if we seek it out.
Marquissa Williams (16:08):
Yes, yes, it's definitely practicality.
It doesn't have to be superdeep, right.
It doesn't have to be this bigold lightning bolt that's going
to come down and show us this.
You know, we're looking forsigns.
The bird is going to fly fromthe left to the right.
That's confirmation, right.
So, just being practical,starting small, and I do believe
(16:33):
something ignites andaccelerates the vision where we
have conversations, one with ourfamilies.
As women, we have a greatresponsibility and sometimes we
think, oh, I'll wait until thekids get older to do X, y and Z
or whatever.
But I believe that there's alevel of buy-in that our
(16:55):
families, our close friends willtake on when we begin to share
our heart.
I believe, when we share ourheart about our dreams, our
goals, that they will understand, they will empathize, they will
be in awe of what they find out, because sometimes they just
look at us as mom, they justlook at us in these one way.
(17:17):
But when you say I think I wantto write a book, you're talking
to your kids.
Or I think I want to do X, yand Z, I want to have a podcast,
I want to start this business.
Having those conversations withyour loved ones is a great
starting point to igniting thatfire, because now it's out of
your mind, it's out of yourheart and it's out of your mouth
(17:38):
.
I believe that those who trulylove you will help you and that
they will support you.
But sometimes we think, no, wecan't do that.
I can't do this right now.
The timing is not good.
But it also goes back to if Godgave us the vision it has to
happen.
But I think conversation withthose who we love will help.
(18:02):
It will get us to a startingpoint right, and I will say this
there was times when I shareddifferent things and it was like
my husband wasn't quite sold onit at first and you know, but I
felt better because I did shareit.
But then I started to livecertain things out, small, you
(18:23):
know, and small bites, and hestarted to see how it brought me
joy, how it made me smile, howit just gave me purpose, you
know, just talking to people.
So before I was, you know, theleadership, as they call me, the
leadership guru, the leaders ofleaders I was a counselor and I
still am a counselor, I'm acertified biblical counselor.
(18:45):
But it took a lot of my timeand so I had to relapse because
I was passionate about it.
I was going, going, going, butit was causing dissension and I
could be very honest in thehouse.
I was like God told me to dothis.
He's going to make it right,but God didn't tell me to overdo
it either and go against thethings.
That's forsaken myresponsibilities at home.
(19:07):
So I had to navigate throughthat and have some hard
conversations within myhousehold.
I had to navigate through thoseebbs and flows of moving into
the vision, navigating theresponsibility but also allowing
my family to see that thisthing is causing me great.
It just lit my whole life up tohelp families and marriages and
(19:30):
people who were just trying tohash out things, and so that was
the buy-in of my family, notonly just speaking it, but just
taking small steps into what Godwas showing me, to helping me
to do and show me what I need tobe doing in that season, and so
counseling was the springboardinto leadership for me.
Belinda Gaston (19:52):
Wow.
So let's talk about this.
We talked about how you hearthe vision, how you get the
vision, some practical tips onways you can make sure that you
have the vision.
But once you have the vision,let's talk about how you execute
the vision.
And so one of the things Iheard you say right up front,
(20:14):
before we even got to thisquestion you need that buy-in,
and I know that there are somewomen listening who are saying
listen, I've tried this andthere is no safe space for me to
share.
The people around me don't buyin.
They don't believe, they'renegative, they don't want me to
change whatever.
So I want to start with first.
(20:34):
I want to talk about executingthe vision in two ways.
First, let's talk about what todo if you have a vision and
you're ready to execute, but thepeople around you don't support
you.
I'd love to hear your thoughtsIf you could give one or two
practical tips that they coulddo.
If you have a vision, you knowit's from God, but the people
(20:57):
around you don't necessarilysupport it, and because it's
from God, we know that it mustbe done right.
So what advice would you givethose people?
First, and then we'll go intomy next question.
Marquissa Williams (21:09):
Yeah, there's always going to be
others that are not going to buyand it may not be your family,
it could be, like you said,those people that are just
around us, our close circle, thepeople that we're used to being
around.
The bottom line is this you'regoing to have to do it anyway.
It's never going to becomfortable, you have to do it.
But I will say you want to seekGod's timing, because sometimes
(21:35):
when God gives us the vision,we get excited and we just want
to jump in that swimming pooland start swimming and it's not
the right time.
And guess what?
When we're out of timing, we'regoing to drown real fast of
timing we're going to drown realfast.
But I do think it's somethingabout God's timing on when we
(21:56):
begin to execute.
So one of the things, one ofthe mantras in Elevate
Leadership right, we stand byfour words vision, strategy,
execution and impact, and Ibelieve that those are the steps
God gives us the vision.
We should have written it downand start processing it, praying
about it, eating it right,letting it be part of who we are
(22:19):
right.
And then the next step isstrategizing.
How do I do?
What I'm seeing, what I'msensing, what God is saying what
do I need?
So strategy is this.
What do I need to carry thisout?
We can't just jump from.
In most cases, from having thevision to fully executing it.
(22:43):
There has to be some steps inbetween to get to the execution
piece.
So the strategizing is it couldlook like you know, again
asking yourself what do I needto support this vision?
Is it money?
Is it networking?
Is it a skill?
(23:04):
Is it support?
You can ask yourself thosequestions because that's part of
your strategy.
It costs money to start abusiness.
It requires skill.
So God is going to give us ourgifting.
All of those.
It might be things we may needto sharpen.
We might need to take a class.
(23:26):
We might have to go full-blowncollege For of you like uh-uh,
I'm not going back to school,not me.
Uh-uh, no, ma'am, it might bethat, but it just might be a
course.
It might be a workshop.
It might be with a women'smentoring group, something
that's going to support you.
That's part of your strategy togain additional wisdom, to
(23:49):
sharpen your skills, of yourstrategy to gain additional
wisdom, to sharpen your skillsand to know the next things that
you need to do before you canexecute.
There has to be a plan in placebefore you can put feet to it
right, and so you got to seekwisdom.
Of course, I can say, seek Godall day.
(24:09):
That's first and foremost, butalso asking ourselves what do I
need to do?
Look around to some people thatyou might even admire and trust
, because there's people outthere that we admire.
We don't know, so we can'tnecessarily trust them.
Yet we admire, but we can tapin and see.
(24:30):
However, we should be alreadysurrounding ourselves with a
trusting source.
So that's how we would get fromvision to execution, starting
with one thing that we canexecute well and that could
potentially be hey, I have agift of speaking right, or a
(24:52):
gift of encouragement.
Go live for five minutes andencourage somebody, or to talk
about their passions on yourheart.
Seek out groups who are doingwhat you're doing, to begin
having conversations, because wecan't strategize in a bubble.
I believe God created us to beconnected to others who have
(25:15):
what we need to carry this out.
So the answer is what if peopledon't support it, you got to do
it anyway.
You just have to work.
Think about timing, of course,but also starting in small ways,
and just ask for peace about it.
(25:37):
There's always going to beresistance.
When there's change, there'salways going to be resistance.
When we branch out to do things, as human beings, we don't want
to disappoint others.
There's an area in most of ourlives we want to people please,
but when it comes to the thingsof God, when it comes to our
purpose, we consider thosethings.
(26:00):
Why people are not supportingflat-footed, 10 toes down,
knowing that this is what Godtold me to do and it's a risk
that we have to take.
And I'm just going to say thisbecause I guess I have a bird
too.
I hear as I'm talking.
You know, there are those likewhat if it's my husband?
What if it's my husband?
(26:22):
What if it's him?
Everybody else is supporting meand he's like no, I don't know
why this keep coming up.
Belinda, however, god is notgoing.
He's not an author of confusion, and sometimes we need to
(26:43):
quietly build, silently, makemoves.
This is not sneaking behindyour spouse's back.
This is not what I'm saying.
I was married for over 30 years.
That's not what I'm saying, andI had to do some of these
things.
So I really believe the answeris in writing.
(27:05):
Begin to write these thingsdown Silently, make moves, do
your research, build while youwait.
Build while you wait for thedoor to open.
God will make a way for thatdoor to open, for you to fully
execute.
(27:26):
But if you're not doing thework until you're fully released
, it's just not going to be done.
It's a scripture in Proverbsthat talks about planning, build
your house and then go out.
We have to plan while we wait.
(27:46):
Proverbs, chapter 24, verse 27.
And it simply says prepare youroutside work, make it fit for
yourselves in the field andafterward build your house.
Afterwards, build your house soit takes a level of preparation
(28:13):
.
Make it fit to get the buy-in.
We absolutely have to build.
Move silently as God leads,because the vision still has to
(28:52):
be built, it still has to beestablished.
It will be executed.
God gives us the vision for itto be done.
He does not give us somethingfor it not to happen.
Our plans are alreadyestablished.
God's hands is already in it.
So, even if our spouse does notbuy it yet, we build.
And I remember a time I'mtelling you I had to almost make
(29:14):
PowerPoint presentations forLinda.
I had to make a pitch to myhusband to tell him how
meaningful it was to me incertain things.
I mean some things.
It wasn't always hard, butthese big, the bigger vision.
You know being called topastoring, being called to be a
leader of leaders, being in acorporate.
(29:35):
You know a corporate leadertraveling all over the country.
You know when you're, when youfirst come together.
You know in a marriage, youknow you're like I didn't expect
all that.
You grow, you develop as yourown person and so does he.
So it's this evolution of whoyou are.
Happens that no one intendedfor it to happen.
(29:59):
Some kind of way you have tonavigate that Right.
So navigating the vision thatGod gave us I believe that's
kind of the title that we'retalking about.
How do we do this God givenvision?
How do we live it out whenpeople don't understand it, when
we halfway don't evenunderstand it?
(30:19):
We can take playbooks out ofNoah.
We can take playbooks rightfrom the scriptures.
Who does these things?
One thing we do know that ifGod gave it to them, those
individuals in scripture that wesee in scripture and it changed
, shifted how we even live today.
(30:41):
How much more can we shift ourculture, our churches, our
organizations, our householdsjust by listening to what God is
asking us to do and followingit out, even when people don't
(31:02):
understand.
Hannah, who prayed, prayed,crying out for this baby, and
they her own husband said whatyou were drinking?
No, no, no.
I'm praying to the heavensbecause I know what God is going
to do with this child.
Belinda Gaston (31:27):
I.
I feel like this is a momentwhere we pause.
I do this a lot, but just todigest, because you said a lot
here.
We talked about how you get thevision, some practical steps to
making sure that you get thevision that God wants you to
have.
The second thing we talkedabout is once you get the vision
it wants you to have.
The second thing we talkedabout is, once you get the
(31:48):
vision, it's important to have astrategy right, and you can't
do anything without thatstrategy, and so you gave some
practical tips for that.
So I think we and the othersteps that you talked about were
execution and impact.
So I think you've alreadystarted giving us some execution
steps, and one of them is tobuild while you wait, and that
(32:12):
is counterintuitive.
Like, what do you mean buildwhile you wait?
I mean I've got this vision andI have to.
I want to just go and do, Ijust want to do the things, and
now I have this strategy let'sgo, let's go, and you're like,
wait, you have to start small.
Go, let's go, and you're like,wait, you have to start small.
So, as we talk about executingthe strategy, I want you to give
(32:33):
, if you have any.
A few more tips on how we movefrom strategy to execution.
Marquissa Williams (32:39):
So, for execution, besides just doing
bring people in with you, right?
So I'm clear that everybody maynot have a team, but you need
to have a support system rightOf like-minded people that can
(33:00):
help you to execute what yourstrategy is.
So you know, for me it waslooking around and seeing what
gifts do I have at my disposalwho can help me to execute, you
know?
And it also goes into tappinginto resources, such as those
(33:21):
who mentor others into startingtheir business or executing a
plan, because sometimes we maynot know how to necessarily do
that.
We still need to seek wisdom.
As it relates to the executionpiece, it's really putting what
you have written down andstarting to move forward.
(33:41):
And again, it always for me, Ibelieve, it always starts in
small spaces, right?
So you know?
I'll just take an example of,let's say, we want to.
You want to have a conference,you know, a leadership
conference, women's conference,whatever, some gathering of
sorts, right?
So you know your vision isalready there.
(34:02):
I want to have this conference.
Then your strategy is what do Ineed?
I need a venue, I need speakers, potentially who's going to do
all those things?
Right?
And then to execute that, nowyou have to begin to put feet to
that by making the phone calls,reaching out to others for help
(34:24):
that can do these things foryou, starting to research and
then begin to just truly walk itout.
Execution is not hard if you'restrategizing properly, because
you're already asking yourselfthe people place things, who,
what, when, how.
You have those already in place, so now it's just moving it
(34:47):
forward, setting a time, settinga date and begin to take action
.
Belinda Gaston (34:52):
Execution is simply beginning to take action
to go from vision at least tothe first part of execution.
We don't have time to talkabout the rest of execution or
(35:14):
impact, but I would like, beforewe tell people how to connect
with you because thisconversation has been very rich
is I would like to give someencouragement because as we're
talking, I'm feeling this andyou kind of hinted to this a
little bit.
But there is a woman who islistening, who may be feeling
stuck, maybe waiting on clarity.
(35:36):
Maybe they even have the visionbut feel like they don't even
have the resources.
They're going through thestrategy process and realizing I
don't even have the resources,I can't move forward, and
sometimes, when leaders get inthis space and we have the
vision, it's easy to stop rightthere.
You get stuck in strategy.
(35:57):
So I'd love for you to sharesome encouragement to that woman
, that leader listening.
What would you tell?
Marquissa Williams (36:06):
her, the woman who's just waiting,
waiting on clarity.
I believe, if God gave you thevision, clarity there is already
set.
I think the foundation isalready, you know, set when we
think about clarity and I feellike getting clarity is still
(36:27):
going back to what I said beforeasking God what that is Right,
but also moving out of yourcomfort zone, taking a chance,
taking simply taking a chance,and ask how bad do I want this,
how bad do I want this, how baddo I want this?
(36:49):
It has to be fire in your bellyfor this right To do it,
talking to someone you know thatyou trust.
I believe sister circles areamazing.
Trusted sister circles can be awonderful thing to get
resources, to get knowledge.
But I would just say trust God,trust who you are, trust who
(37:18):
you are, trust the gifts thatGod has given you.
It doesn't have to be perfectand I think that's a barrier
that gets in our way, right,because we don't see all the
steps or it has to be just sothat we can't make a move.
Do it anyway.
(37:39):
Get rid of perfectionism, pushdoubt aside.
You know it's cliche, probablyjust do it afraid, but I dare
you, I'm daring y'all, I doubledare y'all to do it afraid,
because once you're on the otherside of that thing, you're
(37:59):
gonna be like, oh my goodness,it wasn't that hard or I didn't
realize I was gonna like likethis this much.
I'm going to do this again andagain, and again and again until
it becomes really a part of whoyou are and you get confident
in who you are, what you aredoing and what God you're going
to be like.
God, you was right, you wasabsolutely right, but you have
(38:23):
to take the step, you have totake the leap so you can see
what the other side is going tobe.
We cannot live a life of regret.
There are so many of us who are, even now, living in a life of
regret, but we don't have tostay there.
(38:46):
If I would have just graduatedhigh school, it would have been
this If I didn't have this baby,I would have been this by now.
Or if I wasn't.
You know, I'm too old, I'm toothis.
Get rid of all of that.
That is a lie from the pit.
It is a barrier.
(39:08):
Regret will suck the life outof you.
It will kill a vision.
Fear, doubt, regret,unforgiveness, not forgiving
ourselves are barriers.
It will kill the vision.
It will keep the vision justhovering, keeping you stagnant,
(39:32):
not moving.
It will paralyze you.
So for my sisters out there whoare like I, don't have enough
clarity, it's not going to beperfect.
God just wants you to take thefirst or two steps period.
He will guide you through therest.
(39:53):
God will never set you up tofail.
He will bring the resources,but you got to move.
You absolutely have to move andnot just move.
You have to speak it.
Say I am the leader, I am theteacher, I am the baker, I am
(40:20):
the business owner.
You have to speak it.
Life and death is in the powerof the tongue.
So you have to believe thisthing, this vision, before
anybody else.
Otherwise you allow others tosnatch it.
Snatch it right out of yourheart and it'll never come to
(40:43):
fruition.
So I'm challenging y'all I saidI double.
Dare y'all to not wait for thefull picture to happen.
Belinda Gaston (40:53):
This is a great note for us to end this
conversation.
You have the charge.
Marquissa has double dared youto go not only from vision to
get the vision, to write thevision down, but to begin to
take steps to execute.
Marquissa, this was an amazingconversation.
(41:16):
I think I'm going to have tohave you back for a part two of
this conversation, but in themeantime, I know that there are
people who are saying listen, Ineed to get in, I need to
connect with Marquissa.
You've lit a fire in somepeople that they needed to hear,
and so I'd love for you to tellus how we can connect with you.
(41:36):
If there's something you'reworking on that you'd like to
share, we'd like to hear thatnow.
Marquissa Williams (41:43):
You can connect with me on all social
media platforms with theexception of X.
You can find me at elevateunderscore leadership E-N-T.
So that's elevate underscoreleadership underscore E-N-T.
So it's Instagram.
You can do Facebook as well.
I'm actually on TikTok also.
(42:05):
I love TikTok, by the way.
I've created some great space.
I've met some great women inthat space.
However, those are the spacesyou can reach me.
You can find me on social media, but you can also go to my
website at marquissawilliamscomand there you will find services
that I offer as well and get achance to know a little bit more
(42:27):
about me services that I offeras well and get a chance to know
a little bit more about me.
I have a few things that arestirring.
It's so amazing that we'retalking about vision.
I have an offering calledVision Talks, where it allows
individuals to have a sessionwith me to hash out their vision
.
I said earlier on the podcastthat I have the gift of hearing,
(42:51):
capturing the vision of othersand helping them to map it out
into execution and strategizingand giving them a plan.
So the vision talks are a safespace where you can come and say
you know what.
This is what I think I heardand this is what I believe I
should do and we talk it out,and then from there you get a
(43:12):
plan, a brief plan or startingpoints after our conversation.
That will lead you into furtherstrategy and as well as
execution.
So that's Vision Talks.
How do you sign up for VisionTalks?
You can go to bitly slashVision Talks and that is where
you can sign up for a VisionTalks session to hash these
(43:34):
things out.
And then I have a leadershipsummit this year that I'm super
excited about, and it is forleaders who are building, who
need to re-strategize, and ourtheme, the word for this year,
is revamp to redo some things,to take a look at some things
(43:56):
that we've done before and do itover or heighten, or increase
or enhance.
And so that's going to be heldon July 18th of this year and
July 19th.
July 18th will be a night ofworship, and then we're going to
on the 19th, which is aSaturday.
It's going to be a day ofstrategy.
(44:17):
We're going to have fourphenomenal speakers.
Who's going to present varioustopics, from how to multiply
leadership I'm going to bespeaking about identifying the
gifts to build an effective team.
We're going to have someonethat's going to talk about seven
touches, what these seventouches will do to enhance your
(44:37):
ministry and enhance yourbusiness.
So this is both for marketplaceand ministry leaders.
And then we're going to talkabout a topic around why systems
matter in your ministry, notjust technological systems,
meaning strategies and processesand things like that.
Those conversations are goingto take place at the Elevate
(44:59):
Leadership Summit right here inPhiladelphia, pennsylvania, at
my home church, capacity Church,philly.
At my home church, capacityChurch, philly.
You can sign up for theconference at ly or bitly slash
(45:20):
ELE 2025.
That's bitly slash ELE, and ELEis, in all caps-E 2025.
We would love to have you inthe Philadelphia area and we're
just excited about what God isgoing to do at the Leadership
Summit this year.
Belinda Gaston (45:37):
Excellent.
So, leaders, if you'reinterested in connecting with
Marquissa all of the informationfrom her social media handles
to scheduling yourself a visiontalk, If you need some
one-on-one time to even comingto the leadership summit again,
the leadership summit is forbusiness owners, for those in
corporate spaces and also thosewho lead organizations in the
(45:59):
nonprofit space, as well asministry.
I'll put all of thatinformation in the show notes.
Marquise, thank you so much forbeing on the Graced to Lead
podcast.
This has been a phenomenalconversation, Thank you.
Marquissa Williams (46:12):
Seriously.
Thank you for thinking of me toeven be able to share on the
Graced to Lead podcast.
I'm just excited.
Thank you so much for having me.
Belinda Gaston (46:22):
Thank you and for our listeners, we appreciate
you, as always, for tuning intothe Graced to Lead podcast.
Remember you can share thepodcast, subscribe so you get
notifications.
You can find us on all of yourpodcast platforms, as well as on
our YouTube channel.
I don't take your listeningtime for granted, so thank you
(46:42):
and until we meet again.
Remember you are indeed Gracedto Lead.
Bye-bye.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.