Providing Clarity to team

Having got the opportunity to observe several dozen leaders closely, I can tell that one of the worst thing a Leader could do is …

❝Giving confusing directions every week (or even worse every other day)❞

In one of the earlier orgs I worked, we used to have a weekly call with our Director who was a good person but a bad Manager.

He would contradict himself every other week (& sometimes every other day via emails). We would never be clear on what to do or when to do. And he would reprimand us for not adhering to his directions.🤷‍♂️

After this weekly call, we used to have so much anxiety that couple of us would go for a long walk to calm us down or go eat junk food to reduce our anxiety 😂.

When we pointed this out, he used to give us some random justification or would shut us up using various tactics.

I was so naïve back then to believe that I should improve on managing up and become better at my influencing skills to change him. Learning to manage up & improving influencing skills are definitely good, but it won't work with people who never want to change & grow.

Learnt it the hard way that working in such an environment for a long time is absolutely injurious to career, wealth & health.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. Lack of clarity, on the other hand, reduces speed, reduces innovation and reduces effectiveness.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 & 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. It might not be possible to give 100% clarity on all areas. About those few remaining areas, one has to be transparent, humble & vulnerable and the team will always understand.