leading with clarity

Leading with Clarity

Clarity is the single greatest asset a leader can bring to their organisation. Clarity aligns action, it acts as a conduit for analysis, catalysing the latent potential of individuals and teams throughout the organisation.  Usefully, it also inspires the trust and confidence of external stakeholders. Humans willingly follow a leader whom they trust. Therefore leaders who are able to proffer simple, straightforward plans, strategies and solutions, are likely to be followed willingly and to be produce outstanding results

As a leader, your clarity (or lack thereof) is visible in the way you perceive, think and act. When you’re clear, you know what to look for and what to watch out for. You have a reference point around which to organise your thinking; to both spark and to manage your creativity. You know precisely where, when, and how to act.  Some might say that you become genuinely intuitive.

Perception

A necessary precondition to clarity and the powerful thinking it enables, is the ability to perceive clearly and simply. Similarly, the quality of one’s actions is a function of clarity    i.e. that combination of perception and thought. The innate ability to continually expand the scope and deepen the level of perception is the hallmark of a great leader. In our increasingly interconnected, global environment, such skills are becoming a basic requirement.

Thought

Our thinking and analysis, as well, must rise to match this increased level of perception and the clarity it affords. It, too, must be able to handle the increased scope and depth required to set strategic direction and make strategic decisions in this increasingly complex environment. Most of all, in order to enable communication and action, those things must be simple – a simplicity that can only be achieved via clarity.

Action

Finally, our actions, as the evidence of our clarity, must extend naturally from our understanding. When a leader is both clear and congruent, an organisation trusts in their judgment, in their capacity as a leader, in the course they’ve set and the decisions they’ve taken and this trust permeates each individual’s feelings, thoughts, and actions.  In short it enables the team to deliver its very best at both the individual and collective level.  Team synergy – for many leaders (especially those who lack clarity), this is the Holy Grail.