“ People want character, but follow clarity”- Andy Stanley
I heard this quote on a recent Andy Stanley Leadership podcast. We all want a leader who has character, however it’s often leaders who can portray clear visions that tend to garner the most followers.
At the end of the day character takes a back seat to how clear the vision is stated.
This reflects the power of a clear vision.
Think about everyone who has ever fallen for a financial scam or gotten wrapped up in a cult.
“I can make you very rich.” That message is crystal clear; folks often don’t consider (or care about) the character of who is delivering it.
I think we can all agree that regardless of your particular party affiliation, the character of many politicians is questionable. Yet, how often do we give a their character a pass, just because they support a viewpoint that lines up with our political ideology? Lower taxes, Pro-Choice etc. But some of their behavior is so bad we would be mortified if someone in our own family acted that way.
False Clarity
We have all seen leaders whose character is in question state a goal and we are just not quite sure what they are trying accomplish. This leads to a loss of confidence in the team and usually puts an organization on the wrong path quickly.
On the other hand leaders who intentionally cast a vision based on faulty assumptions or false facts, can be equally as damaging. Eventually the charade will end and employees will see that the emperor really has no clothes, this is a blow that is hard for an organization to recover from.
Character is Key
It comes back to character.
A leader who is principled and has strong character, by nature will not distort the progress of the vision with false facts, regardless of how painful the truth may be.
If you are this type of leader never compromise.