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Welcome to the Success Architect, where we don't just build homes, we build legacies. I'm your host, Jake Lewendall, custom home builder and coach. Each week, I sit down with builders and entrepreneurs who are ready to 10x their business, their health, and their mindset. This is where blueprints become breakthroughs. Let's get to work. What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Success Architect. We've got D3 of our leadership capsule dropping today here for you. And today is the Law of Clarity. Now, this also includes the law of the bottleneck. Both of these go hand in hand. And I want to start with a little metaphor. I am not giving tax advice in this conversation, but just as a metaphor, we're going to have a conversation about taxes. So anyone who is becoming uh more successful in their life does their best usually to try to get very good clarity on how the tax system works. And it's very simple that if you make a set amount of money, if you are very clear and have good clarity on how the IRS and our tax system works, most likely you're going to pay less taxes. If you are very unclear about how it works, you don't know how to properly document, uh, you don't know the right people to talk to. In order to help you, you do not have clarity around the rules, then you are probably going to pay more in taxes. This transfers perfectly to teams and being a leader because clarity means that you have efficiency, you have good margins, you have people making good decisions. But confusion, which is the opposite of clarity, is the hidden tax on every team. Every time that there's confusion in a team, there's going to be loss of efficiency, there's going to be loss of margins, there's going to be bad communication. And not only are we wasting time, are we mast wasting money, but no one is having fun when they're confused. So again, confusion is the hidden tax on every single team. Clarity is how we increase efficiency and we get rid of bottlenecks. So today, key points in discussion about clarity. Clarity creates speed. Confusion key points for today's discussion about the law of clarity and bottlenecks. Clarity creates speed. Confusion creates worrywork and delays. So one of the core values in our company is clear is kind. And when we are very clear with each other in our communication, we're clear about our expectations, we're clear about our standards, we're clear about our ownership and who owns said task. Then everyone is usually having a lot of fun and smiling and going throughout their day in an efficient, productive manner. When something is confusing, everyone's pulling their hair out, they're making extra phone calls, and we're all wasting time not getting a lot of stuff done. And in every business, not just construction, nobody likes running around spinning their wheels. So clarity is kind. That's what we need to live by. Now, how do we define clarity as a leader for everyone on our team? First is the mission, which is why. Why are we doing said task or why are we looking for said outcome? Number two is the win. That means what is the actual result and what specifically does winning look like? Number three is what is the next step right this second in order to move forward toward that said win. This is how we define clarity and this is how we lead our people properly. Finally, the bottleneck truth. So if there's a bottleneck in a business and you are the leader, my guess is you are the bottleneck. It's very simple. And that can transfer down the line. So if you have leaders in different divisions or different areas within the business, if there is a bottleneck, nine times out of ten, it is the leader of that said division or that said sector in the company. So this comes down to extreme ownership. Look at where are the bottlenecks, be very honest with yourself about what a bottleneck looks like and if you are the bottleneck, and then let's try to get you out of it. And that means you define, you clarify exactly what the mission is, what winning looks like, and the next step on how to get there, and you hand that off to the right team member. Now, bottlenecks, let's talk about just a little bit. So let's talk for a second about bottlenecks and what happens, what why bottlenecks happen. First off, is when the win or the result is unclear, then that means the leader is doing constant check-ins. You're constantly checking in to see, hey, are you there yet? Are you there yet? Are you there yet? Whereas the team member probably doesn't even know if they're there yet because they haven't defined winning. And as the leader, if you define winning, I don't need to check in because they're gonna let me know when they hit the result. If it goes past a deadline, sure, go check in. But when everyone knows the result, there's no reason to check in. Number two is when the decision rights are unclear. So this is probably down to the next step and the mission or the why. Because by having a proper why, it makes it easier for a team member to make decisions. So when a decision right is unclear, everything escalates. And that means the decision escalates to you, the leader, which means you're fielding more phone calls during the day. You're wasting more time, and you're actually wasting your team members' times, which reduces your margins as the business owner or the leader. Finally, no guardrails means you're hovering or you're just hanging out in space. Going back to day two when we talked about standards, we have to have guardrails. We have to have what the win looks like and how we stay in the guardrails in order to get to that win. That means everyone's feet are on the ground and we are all running forward toward the growth that we are after and toward that result that we defined. So, how do you implement this today? This is called the commander's intent. Here's the win, here are the constraints, or the guardrails are standards, now go. That's how the commander's intent work, and it's very simple. As a leader, if you have the right people and you empower them, you are going to get results. Number two, delegate the decision. So if you've given commander's intent and they are running toward the result, but a decision comes up, they might still want to come back to you because the decision rights are unclear. Now, if they really have to come back to you, then you say, bring me two options, bring me your recommendation, and go. It's very simple. It reduces the amount of communication you have and it makes it very efficient and timely in order to get to the result that you as the leader and the team is after. So the challenge today for you is go identify one bottleneck, which most likely is you. So take some ownership, identify the bottleneck, delegate the decision, put some guardrails around it, and go get the results that you want. Because we all want good results and we don't want to spend all the time in the world doing it. So stop being a bottleneck. Let's go get clear, guys. I'm super excited to talk to you on day four. Everyone have a fantastic day today. We'll see you on the next one. Thanks for tuning in to the Success Architect. If today's episode helped you lay a stronger foundation for your business or your life, subscribe and share it with someone ready to do the same with theirs. You can follow me, Jake Lewendah, on social for daily tips on health, wealth, and building success that lasts. Until next time, keep designing, keep building, and keep leveling up.