You know what freaks out most leaders about clarity?

It’s not the risk that people won’t get it
And it’s not the vulnerability of being transparent.

It’s this: when you’re 100% clear, you have to trust your audience.

Because clarity takes away your hiding places.
No jargon to make things sound bigger than they are.
No clever detours to keep options open.
No endless slides to “prove” the point (read: hide the fact that you’re not trusting it yourself).

When you’re clear, you hand the audience the full picture.
And then it’s on them.
To get it.
To judge it.
To decide what to do with it.

That’s the scary part.
Because deep down, many leaders don’t trust their people to see what they see.
So they try to control the outcome by adding more, by polishing more, by persuading harder.

But here’s the paradox:
The less you trust your audience, the less they’ll trust you.
And the more you trust them, the more they’ll rise to it.

That’s why clarity is an act of leadership courage.
It says: Here’s the truth. I trust you to act on it.

Of course, this only works if you’ve put in the work and listened rigorously before you speak.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

Check out my new book
The PATH to Strategic Impact

Get This Moment Counts in your inbox.
My weekly briefing for leaders who want to give their best talk exactly when it matters

    I value your privacy. No spam. Just “Great stuff, brilliantly articulated” (to use the words of longtime reader David).

    Read More

    Simple ideas

    Did you ever struggle to get a simple idea across? This might explain why … We’re so good at adding stuff to our ideas. For

    Read »

    An excellent tool

    PowerPoint is an excellent tool to turn great ideas into confusing presentations. Sure, it can be used to turn a great story into a great

    Read »