Often, I have this beautiful vision in my head with a perfect "end in mind" for a new great idea. Then I jump right in and never communicate the why or how. Suddenly, big changes are afoot and nobody seems to understand. Did we do something wrong? Is something broken? Why all the change? From these questions, the anxiety builds. Productivity goes down and our ability to be happy and effective diminishes. All because the leader didn't take the time to effectively communicate the reasons WHY. The WHY must always clearly come first.
Which leads to clarity. Clarity is a sure antidote to anxiety and frustration. When we focus on clarity, people tend to be happier and more effective. Yet, we know communicating effectively to provide clarity takes lots of effort and time. Next time as you evaluate a change that didn't go well, ask yourself, "Did I provide the clarity necessary for everybody to understand the WHY?" And before you leap into your next big project, be proactive and figure out the points where anxiety might creep up and how you can provide clarity to remedy this.
It takes times and effort. It really depends on established relationships. And it's hard work. But clarity is a beautiful concept for propelling organizations forward. Bottom line, clarity builds trust and trust is the key component for sustained organizational success.
How clear is your vision? How clear is the mission to reach your vision?
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