What makes clarity an unleasher or blocker?

Reader,

Clarity is either the great unleasher of focused, purposeful action, or it can stall everything with hesitation, doubt, and waiting. It makes the difference between action and paralysis.

Let’s look at what happens when clarity becomes a blocker, and how it can instead become an unleasher.

I just need more clarity.

When a team member says this, what they really mean is: I don’t know what matters most or how to make that a reality. And being clear about the big picture isn’t enough. People also need to know:

What does it look like to implement this vision?
Which priorities are important now, and why?
What do we need to build for and focus on next?

The hardest part? Taking action with a team when no one is completely clear. It’s messy. That’s why many leaders shorten the process by being directive and prescriptive. But what happens when they’re not clear? They’re less confident.

This is obvious on the surface, but what’s interesting are the subtler blockers.

What gets in the way of clarity.

When I really started to listen to Millennial and Gen Z rising leaders, I realized I was a big part of the problem as a CEO.

Two things stand out:

1) Too much talking.

And not from team members—from leaders. In all transparency, I was the absolute worst at this for a long time. I believed that if we were having problems executing the vision, it was because I hadn’t said it enough. So I kept talking. It didn’t work.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s a good thing for the CEO or leader of teams to share their vision, enroll, align. But it’s a problem when they aren’t equally willing to stop talking and leave space for others.

What got me clear as a CEO were two things:

Focusing on the big picture. Spending real time on vision and strategy until I knew what success looked like.
Articulating the big picture. Getting so clear about what mattered and why that I could also say it clearly.

And every time I got too busy to think or sloppy in my communication, the first thing I lost was clarity. The same is true for rising leaders.

2) Too much urgency.

Younger leaders often have more questions than answers, and that’s a good thing. It makes them experimental, flexible, curious. But many company cultures don’t make room for the exploratory process of understanding what matters and why.

There simply isn’t time.

Leadership development always pays later—but urgency always pays now. The tension between the two is the hardest leadership choice of all.

Are mistakes, failures, a slower pace, and longer goals worth it? Or is it better to be directive, move the company forward, and get results now?

It's a difficult choice, because the truth is, results do happen when the CEO drives.

Making a choice.

How would you answer the questions above? Have you considered what you’re willing to invest in your own clarity? Do you know how much space you’re willing to give others?

Whatever choice you make, there’s always a cost—either in the short-term productivity you can see today, or the long-term leadership capacity your organization will depend on tomorrow.