Clarity in Ministry by Lee Ellis

Clarity in Ministry Leadership

By Lee Ellis ~

A Fight for Clarity

Have you ever had to fight for clarity in a meeting, conversation or even your ministry? Early on in my military training at Air University, our professors who taught speaking and writing courses told us repeatedly to “fight for clarity.” When lives are at stake while flying multi-million dollar pieces of equipment, clarity was crucial for us.

Clarity in the Crucible

Having spent several years in the crucible of the Hanoi POW camps, I grasped the concept of clarity in a literal way several years before I fully understood it in a classroom setting. With the guards patrolling the compound, it was a daily battle just to keep our limited covert communications flowing. And with so much on the line, clarity was essential for alignment on strategy and tactics as well as encouragement and support.

Clarity in All Situations

Clarity is essential in all situations. It’s easy to see the problems when a sports team doesn’t have a clear message. For example, in baseball, what if the batter misses the sign and the runner at first gets thrown out on what should have been a sacrifice bunt? In a more typical workplace culture, it may be more subtle but can be even more disastrous. So, though clarity may be crucial, it’s almost never easy.

Obstacles to Clarity

Clarity is difficult because we’re dealing with humans—not machines. To understand the battle, here are some of the challenges we must overcome:

1. Low Priority. We’re too busy and don’t recognize how important clarity is and just neglect it.
2. Bad Assumptions. We assume that others see the world that we’re seeing and therefore don’t understand that they don’t have the right picture.
3. Unfocused. Some leaders don’t take the time to focus and decide what they want to happen—what success will look like.
4. Lazy. Sometimes leaders are too lax in their approach, figuring that somehow it will get done.
5. Fear. Some leaders resist clarity because they fear the responsibility of holding others accountable—which, at times, means being firm and risking “negative emotions.”

Yes, it’s a battle, but gaining clarity is worth fighting for.

How Can You Get Clarity?

– 100,000-foot level. Clarity about mission, vision, and values is crucial to building a culture of synergy and accountability. Unless these are hammered out at the top and then pushed down to the lowest levels, the culture will never be strong.

– 50,000-foot level. For the sake of discussion, consider this level as standards and policies for the industry and organization. Enron and Arthur Anderson lost clarity and focus on these points, and they’re no longer in business.

– 25,000 foot level. This level is about policies and processes for the leader and the team. How do we work together? What do we expect of each other?

– 15, 10, and 5,000-foot levels. This level is about the specifics of the task or project. What will a successful outcome look like? What problems will be solved? What resources are available, and what ground rules or assumptions are in place that need to be considered?

When you look at clarity in these few levels, you can see that it’s not easy. It takes diligence and courage on the part of the leader to provide the clarity that people and teams need to successfully perform their assignments.

The Reward

The rewards for clarity are great—extending beyond celebrating success of the immediate task. In the process, everyone is growing in accountability and professional development. Envision current and next generation leaders growing together. Now that’s a goal really worth fighting for.

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Lee Ellis is the president of Leadership Freedom® LLC, a leadership and team development consulting and coaching company, Lee Ellis consults with Fortune 500 senior executives in the areas of hiring, team building, human performance, and succession planning. His media appearances include interviews on CNN, CBS This Morning, C-SPAN, ABC World News, and Fox News Channel. He is also the author of Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability.

Need clarity in your ministry leadership? Join Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA)  to gain access to experiences and resources that will help you develop a s a leader. This is a community where you will develop professionally and engage with a  network of leaders who share your passion. CLA encourages you to find the membership level that is right for you.

www.ChristianLeadershipAlliance.org