True Wisdom Includes Clarity

Speak to be understood, not to impress

“When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19, NIV).

Have you ever listened to someone, heard every word but didn’t understand, and then felt like you were the dumb one because you didn’t get it?

A client — the founder and CEO of a $250 million company — once asked me to sit in on an interview the executive team of his company was conducting with a candidate for the position of marketing director.

The man had an impressive resume. He spoke rapidly and with great confidence — and he certainly knew all the marketing buzzwords. But after more than an hour of listening to him, I wasn’t sure what he was saying.

When the interview was over, my client asked me what I thought of him. I qualified my answer by pointing out that I hadn’t been involved in the earlier screening and it was possible the reason I didn’t understand much of what he said was that I didn’t have the proper information foundation.

Then I told the truth: “He sounded good while he was talking, but now that I’m out of the room and thinking about it, I’m not really sure what he said.”

My client laughed and admitted, “I don’t have a clue what he said, but he must be smarter than I am about marketing.”

The man was hired — and it turned out to be a huge mistake. He didn’t know how to manage a creative team; he was scornful of customers and rude to subordinates; he lacked communication and interpersonal skills; it didn’t bother him a bit to sacrifice others to protect himself; and his sense of ethics was, at best, questionable.

But he always sounded good.

You cannot cover up or explain wrongdoing by talking a lot.

The ability to speak well and do it at length does not necessarily mean what the speaker is saying has value. W.C. Fields is credited with saying:

“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with [nonsense].”

God does not want us to baffle anyone. He wants us to speak with wisdom and clarity — and to be silent in the same way.

Dear God,

Help me communicate with truth and accuracy. Give me the words to speak so that I may be clearly understood and the wisdom to know when to stay silent.

Amen

Thank you for reading this excerpt from my book Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs.

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