4 Reasons CLARITY is the Secret of Great Leadership

“If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”  (1 Cor. 14:8)

Clarity wins the day.  Every time.

If you find your leadership is more “wandering around” I know the problem.  Work on your CLARITY.

Israel had two “silver trumpets” (Num. 10).  Everything in the Jewish life and culture was clarified by their sound.

Here are the four things they did, and how your leadership can be “crystal clear”:

1.   Gathered people together. 

People need “assembly.”  Most things come “unassembled.”  When the parts are combined correctly, the bicycle will ride.

Leadership is about gathering all the parts together.  All the “parts” are different.  When each part clearly knows their specific place, contribution, and function, the organization races forward.

SPEND TIME WORKING WITH EACH PART OF YOUR TEAM until each person has a clear assignment.

2.  Mobilized the multitudes.

When the trumpet blew, each tribe “moved out.”  People need action, activities, targets and timing.

Be sure you are CLEAR with people about “when, where, and what.”  Unclear directions that are poorly thought through and communicated will dissipate your precious momentum.

DESIGN, REHEARSE, COMMUNICATE, AND EXECUTE.  Go over the details until nothing is left to chance.  Don’t assume that people “got it” the first time! 

“Leadership is helping people to know when to be “urgent.””

3.  Called the nation to battle.

Israel’s enemies could attack at night or at any given moment.  They needed an “alarm,” a sudden sense of urgency to be prepared.

Leadership is helping people to know when to be “urgent.”  Make it CLEAR that there is a pressing need without communicating panic. 

“Urgency requires clarity.”  Urgency in prayer.  Urgency in giving.  Urgency in volunteering.  By clear direction about urgency, Nehemiah motivated his people to build the much-needed wall…in only 52 days!

4.  Signaled new beginnings.

The trumpets were blown over their feasts and New Moon offerings.  The past was forgotten, the future was being celebrated.

Great leaders look FORWARD.  They celebrate their victories but they give people a “Why?”  They make the vision of the future “crystal clear” so everyone can advance instead of retreat.

You cannot “unscramble eggs.”  Looking backward never wins.  You can blow the trumpet over your present and God will turn it into your future.

If you are a leader, work on your CLARITY:

1.       Clarity about what each part must do.

2.       Clarity about when and where they must do it.

3.       Clarity about how urgent it must be done.

4.       Clarity about what the finished product looks like.

Simplify your system.  Make it more simple, more clear.  Put the right people in positions of oversight.  Communicate what is urgent.  Motivate everyone to see the “promised land” and move toward the FUTURE.

IS THAT CLEAR?