Clarity is a leadership responsibility

A great team is a group of people who trust each other with working towards a common goal. Trust is created when people say what they mean and mean what they say. Plus – and this is easily overlooked – when others get what they mean.

Speaking with clarity is one of the main ingredients that makes great teams trust each other. Cutting to the core, avoiding the bullshit, and using plain language make it so much easier for our team mates to get what we mean.

This is a genuine responsibility of a leader. When a leader uses confusing language it gives the team permission to do the same. When a leader tolerates ambiguous framing, the team will see it as permission to use it. When a leader doesn‘t insist that a statement is clarified, why should the team?

Trust starts with common ground and common ground starts with clarity.