One of my biggest frustrations, as a leader, is that the people I lead don’t bother to read my mind.

I’m pretty sure that if they were conscientious and motivated, they would put the effort into figuring out what I want. Even if I haven’t thought it through yet.

In fact, ideally, people should be able to anticipate anything I want before I get around to wanting it.

Millennials. They don’t even try.

(Millennials are just fun to blame. But basically, no one else reads my mind either. Not even Boomers.)

The Biggest Leadership Error

The most common leadership error happens when leaders don’t create clarity. Ambiguity automatically generates either friction, diffusion or conflict in the system. Or any combination of the three.

Automatically.

You can count on it.

Lack of clarity is so rampant that I can routinely and quickly add 10%-20% to nearly any company’s bottom line (or more) just by helping them get clear in a few basic areas.

There is that much slack in the rope.

Four Areas Where the Best Leaders Create Clarity. Are You Doing This?

Personal Clarity: What are your highest personal values? Your vision for your leadership role? Are you living in alignment to those? What is your highest priority right now? Do you know what steps you need to take to accomplish it?

Roles, Responsibilities & Expectations: Does everyone working for you have a clear understanding of their role, their mission, their purpose within the organization? Do they understand their central responsibilities?

Do they know what is expected of them in terms of priorities or behavior or performance? Do they know when things are due? Is accountability (up, down, all around) practiced? Are there structures for it?

Structure and Systems: Are lines of authority clear to everyone? Are they respected? Are structures or processes for communication established? What about decision making? What about systems for planning? Accountability? Conflict resolution?

Organizational Culture:  Are you leaving your culture to chance? Most organizations do. This usually means things settle out at some sort of lowest common denominator. Are you actively establishing, clarifying, reinforcing your organization’s values? Vision for the future? Ways of relating?

Why Is Creating Clarity So Rare?

Here are some of the top reasons:

• Leaders aren’t clear about what they want themselves: It takes time, space and discipline to generate personal clarity. Many leaders keep themselves too busy, have a poor sense of priorities or don’t create the structure needed to find personal clarity quickly.

It takes discipline to set aside a regular time and creating the mental & emotional space to reflect on priorities. But this is precisely what allows a leader to lead – as opposed to being led by the most recent crisis or someone else’s urgency.

• Leaders are afraid of making definite decisions: Many people in leadership positions are uncomfortable with the ambiguities, the alternatives, the risks (real or perceived) that accompany decisions. So, they stay vague.

Leaders have to develop a tolerance for ambiguity and insufficient information. A less ideal but timely decision is more valuable than a delayed but perfect decision.  Leaders also need to cultivate the humility and confidence to quickly recognize, own and correct their own poor choices quickly.

• Lack of discipline: Everyone has attended a meeting where it seemed like issues were hashed out and decisions were made. Then, they find at the next meeting that no one remembers who was responsible for what and so nothing got done. It’s a simple matter to clarify decisions and responsibilities in a meeting – but a lack of discipline – often prevents people.

Some of the most valuable disciplines, in regards to clarity, take very little effort or time. Building accountability structures can help reinforce this (like a standing agenda item at the end of a meeting called, “Review decision and assign responsibilities and due dates.”)

• Lack of Structure or Process: Any activity, role or decision that will be repeated within your organization on a regular or predictable basis should have a defined process built around it. This often feels cumbersome to people. If done wrong, this can be unnecessarily bureaucratic. Generally, this saves time and it allows consistency across the team and organization. If everyone knows what is expected – you team can teach each other and reinforce clarity.

Similar to the agenda item idea above, use structures in your organization to make things easier. All policy, process, procedure – probably other “P” words – should be shaped, designed and reviewed to ensure that they directly contribute towards the strategic priorities of the organization.

• A Culture of “Busy”: There is a pervasive misnomer that being busy is being productive. Maybe this is due to having too many goals. Maybe this is due to some kind of internal narrative that says that the level of “busy-ness” is mystically connected to how valued or important someone else.

Working hard does produce. But focus is often lost.  Working towards clear priorities produces more. Being clear on your role and what only you can do and delegate the rest out produces more. Clarifying and managing towards outcomes produce more.

When hiring or bringing someone into a senior leadership position, look for these attributes:

• Leaders who are clear about their own priorities (personally and professionally.)
• Leaders who ask for clarity from you.
• Leaders who create clarity for others.

To the degree someone lacks clarity or the ability to create clarity is the degree to which they will not be able to provide leadership.

A leader can only lead to what they can see.

This is part of a series called 12 Key Traits To Look For When Building Your Dream Team. To read more click here.

Would You Like To Increase Your Ability To Create Clarity?

Do you have a clear sense of your overall goals? Are you clear on the next, specific steps you or your team needs to take to achieve them? Do you find that your team requires too much direct management?

If your answer is YES, then I have something for you. I have a few slots in my calendar to speak with you 1-on-1 about the best practices to build a strong leadership team.

On the call, I’ll share with you 3 practical & specific strategies you can use to create clarity for yourself and others that will help you increase team performance and personal impact.

Email me at Christian@vantageconsulting.org or call me at 907 522-7200.

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