Request a proposal
yFechar menu
Haven’t found what you were looking for?

Search...

The Four Levels of Leadership Clarity

Have you ever had to fight for clarity in a meeting or conversation? 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.

Why is Clarity So Hard?

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

Low Priority

We’re too busy and don’t recognize how important clarity is and just neglect it.

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.

Unfocused

Some leaders don’t take the time to focus and decide what they want to happen—what success will look like.

Lazy

Sometimes leaders are too lax in their approach, figuring that somehow it will get done.

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.

*Lee Ellis – As 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, teambuilding, human performance, and succession planning. His media appearances include interviews on CNN, CBS This Morning, C-SPAN, ABC World News, and Fox News Channel. Lee is a retired Air Force colonel; his latest award-winning book about his Vietnam POW experience is entitled Leading with Honor®: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton. Learn more at: www.leadingwithhonor.com.

Related

Content

Get Inspired with Erica Orange

Get Inspired with Erica Orange

“Flipping our perspectives and thinking in terms of trend/countertrend...
Reading time: 10 minutes
New research highlights diversity trends

New research highlights diversity trends

Global AESC study reveals diversity and inclusion as competitive...
Reading time: 3 minutes
RECEIVE NEWS

Newsletter

To receive our news, insights, and other sorts of content, please sign up and follow us. We will enjoy having you with us on this journey.

BI-MONTHLY NOTIFICATIONS

    ×