Leading Your Team | Moving From Confusion to Clarity

If you are reading this, it’s because you desire to lead your people better in some form or fashion. Good job! We owe it to the people nearest us and ourselves to lead better, even if it’s a little bit—every day counts. I would challenge you, upon reading our insights, to take 3-5 minutes following your read and write down how you can use this to make your organization better.

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is absolutely true when it comes to leadership and teamwork. A committed, functional team can get more done than any individual player unless the team is not on the same sheet of music. Clarity is the key to effective action. Conversely, a lack of appropriate action indicates that your team lacks clarity.

I believe it’s up to us as people leaders to not only say that but embody it. You can employ this practice in almost every meeting where you present information as a leader or part of a leadership team.

Often when our team is confused, there is a disconnect from what’s in our brain and what’s being communicated.  Our team comprehends something different than we are trying to communicate. Consequently, our team’s actions or lack of action does not make sense to us.  Effective action naturally follows clarity.

At this point, you are probably asking, “how do I create more clarity?” You could work on creating clearer messaging, but there is a much easier way.

Ask open-ended questions. Questions like:

• What are your thoughts on this idea?
• What have I missed?
• What could get in the way of our success?
• Would you recap what I said to make sure we are on the same page?
• Where do you see your skillset/department skillset serving this larger vision?
• How can I—or the leadership team—best support you as you move forward?

Explore the Implications

Lean in and listen to what your team says. Don’t be afraid to press in and personally gain clarity on the responses from the group receiving the new information. Seeking to understand them may take a bit more time on the forefront but will pay dividends in the long run. Lean in and explore what they are not saying, don’t be afraid to express what you may have expected their response to be, compared with how they responded. If you lead in seeking clarity from them, it may encourage others to ask for more clarity from you or the leadership team, which will get you guys moving forward in transparency and confidence together.

Repeat Regularly

As you or the leadership team seek to shift the culture in your workplace from confusion to clarity, you can repeat this simple little process on a micro and macro level. Furthermore, DRYVE believes this process will create a higher trust relationship with everyone involved and can be repeated at any level. As we continue to invite and engage our people in the conversation and co-create solutions together, clarity will become the norm in your organization.

As the way forward for your team becomes clearer, confusion will dissipate, but it’s up to you to guide them this way.

At DRYVE Leadership Group, we walk alongside you, to help you learn to consistently lead with more clarity and less stress!

Book a Strategy Session with one of our coaches now!