A few weeks ago I prepared to chair an important meeting for a big board I am on. There were several hot topics I added to the agenda, and quite honestly, I was a bit anxious about how the meetings would go. After I prepared and talked to leaders of the organization and few members of the board, I felt much better. I prayed and trusted the Lord.
The meeting went well because, thankfully, two ingredients were present—two ingredients that are present in all successful leadership. First, clarity of what we should achieve or where we should be, clarity of the desired future. The second vital element of successful leadership is having your people with you. Of course, there are many aspects of leadership that must run smoothly, but I find that these two ingredients—clarity and people—are often missing, and the result is confusion and ineffectiveness.
Many times, the leader has not stopped to clarify what needs to be accomplished. The leader has not talked to key advisors, knowledgable people around him or her to garner their perspective. In most cases, when there is no clarity, it is simply because the leader has not taken time alone to think and write down options for the future and sought the best approach.
You may ask, but what if things are still unclear? Then arriving at clarity should be your goal.
Other times the goal becomes clear, but your people are simply not with you. When this happens, the leader has usually not conferred with others enough about what they see so his team can check him or her, confirm, edit, change, and ultimately, own the direction the leader selected. In these times, the leader has made gut-decisions—a reckless mistake—and carelessly announced his plans to the world. When the leader shows up unprepared to a big meeting, the boardroom, the living room, or wherever he or she leads, it’s going to be a big flop.
Ask yourself today: Do I have clarity on where we need to go? And then ask, are my people with me, at least a critical mass or the key people I need to hear from? Do they see the same thing I am seeing? Unless and until you answer these questions affirmatively, you will struggle in your leadership.
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