How to create clarity and direction as a leader by Paula Leach

I believe that all leaders can simplify the often complex role that they have.  Firstly, by focusing on the key point of leadership which is to coordinate resources and people to support the moment of something from A to B.  And secondly, by distilling their job into two main aspects:

• Creating clarity
• Getting out of the way and creating space for others.

WHAT DOES CREATING CLARITY ACTUALLY MEAN?

This is the ongoing process of ensuring that everyone involved in a shared endeavour has a common understanding of direction.  Clarity enables people to collaborate without misunderstanding or divergence which can waste time, create frustration and impact performance and wellbeing.

For any leader there are three main steps to creating clarity.  These steps are not necessarily linear, but rather form a continuous cycle of focus.  I think of this rather like an artist painting a picture:

This is similar to drawing the lines or outline of a picture.   A Leader is responsible for ensuring that there is a clear picture, it is decipherable and provides the parameters for shared endeavour.  It is not necessarily a requirement of the leader to know this and design this exclusively, it can be collaborative.  But it is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that a scene is set.  This means a collective understanding to the questions:

1. Where are we going?
2. Why?
3. What does it look like now and in the future state?
4. How will we get there?

Once the scene is set the leader is responsible for working with others to provide the next level detail of the picture.  Colouring in can only happen effectively and efficiently when the scene is set clearly.  This involves how the work will be resourced, and specifying the work:  who does what, and the processes and systems in place for delivering the work.  This also involves clear expectation setting between all stakeholders which is another opportunity to move away from assumption and be explicit to ensure a shared understanding.

With a scene set and coloured in, the responsibility to ensure every single person in the collective understands and is bought into this direction is the leader’s responsibility.  Everyone is a contributor and so effective two-way communication on an ongoing basis is part of creating clarity.  Sharing the view is about communication, but rather it is more importantly about comprehension.

At all stages, the leader will be referring to the unique vantage points that they have to enable them to fine tune the clarity they are creating.  Attending to clarity regularly as one of the two jobs a leader must focus on will ensure better relationships, more collaboration, higher performance and speedy decision making and delivery.