Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it" (Genesis 37:5-7 NIV).

Leaders are characterized by vision. When Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, it inspired people. They latched on to his dream and followed King. People related to his vision and adopted it as their own. King's vision sparked a movement that changed American life.

Joseph had a dream too. Joseph's dreams all pointed to him gaining authority over all of his family and of them submitting to his authority. But when Joseph shared his dream, his vision, his family was not inspired. They did not adopt his vision. Instead they rejected him. They persecuted him, and they wrote him off as dead.

In the end, Joseph's dream came true, and God used Joseph to deliver his family from the great famine and preserve God's promise to Abraham. His family did bow down to him, as Joseph had become the second highest leader in all of Egypt.

People don't just hear a leader's vision, believe in it, and follow the leader. Leaders must connect their vision with the needs and desires of their followers and cast their vision in such a way that it is appealing. It must be shared in a believable way that inspires hope for the future.

As a leader, when you have a dream or vision, examine your own motives and the heart-felt desires of your followers. If you find where these two intersect, carefully spread your vision in a way that builds credibility and demonstrates your desire for the future good of your followers.

By doing this, you may escape from the vision trap into which Joseph fell.