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Clarity in leadership is an essential aspect of modern management. It is also not something that comes naturally to everyone—luckily, it is something that can be learned! With enough work and a careful approach, anyone can improve their ability to manage with clarity.
Why it Matters
Communicating clearly with the people you manage should be a priority. Not only is there the risk that tasks will be completed incorrectly or that team members will not be aligned, but unclear management will spread into other important aspects of company culture. In fact, the ability to foster trust in a team is deeply tied to clarity in leadership.
According to Dr. Paul J. Zak, “vague or impossible goals cause people to give up before they even start.” This is in contrast to a manager who has been trained effectively in clear communication and is able to inspire her direct reports by outlining audacious goals in terms that actually increase engagement. When a challenge is well explained and the path to success is outlined vividly, there is a net gain in engagement, even if the task is difficult.
Make Challenges Specific
When teaching managers how to better communicate with their teams, an easy improvement we all can make is to be specific when we set goals. This specificity is proven to increase manager effectiveness.
Action: Rather than tasking a team with “improving sales,” task a team with engaging with ten more leads a week than they currently do.
Model Emotional Transparency
For many managers, it can be difficult to adopt emotional transparency as good practice. This isn’t to suggest that a manager needs to unload all of their emotional baggage on their team (this would probably confuse them more than anything!), but there is value in building a team culture in which openness is not just accepted but expected.
Action: Try starting team meetings with a short “State of Being” discussion. Model openness by sharing some of what is happening in your non-work life and encourage that others share as well.
It’s Only the Beginning
There are many more ways to incorporate clarity into your management training offerings, but these are two solid first steps. By integrating these two tactics, team engagement will rise and team productivity will follow.
