The Leadership Value of Clarity

by Kelly Riggs

It’s not unusual to hear managers observe that it’s “hard to find good people.”

Personally, I’ve never bought into that idea. Instead, I’m much more inclined to think that it’s hard to find good managers. The seemingly permanent level of employee disengagement that exists in the workplace easily makes that case as far as I’m concerned. And since managers are responsible for hiring, training, and leading those disengaged employees, I don’t think it’s hard to make that case stick.

As for good people being hard to find, it’s often a manager’s pride that keeps them from being able to find them. One of the big virtues of good management is knowing when to admit you don’t know something, and knowing when to delegate important tasks. For example, the manager in a finance company probably won’t know the first thing about hiring an employee for the legal department, nor is he expected to. But instead of hiring an expert recruiter such as Alex Gotch or someone similar, an efficient manager would rather try to do the job himself, or give it to someone with little to no experience in hiring. That’s just one example, but ineffective management is something you see far too often.

Poor Engagement = Ineffective Manager. Case closed.

On the other hand, if you are an effective leader and you succeed in creating a strong workplace culture, something amazing starts to happen – good people start to find you. As in the sports world, great players want to play on great teams.

One of the most powerful things you can do to start down the path towards effective leadership is to create clarity for your team. Why? Because people will never run their best race (or do their best work) if they don’t know where the finish line is. Teams will never perform at optimum level without mission clarity, role clarity, and measurable objectives. As a leader, you may have to ensure that your team is working at their full potential for the growth of your organization. If that’s not the case, you can contact experts or visit their websites (similar to meseekna.com), which can help you with team-building activities and employee improvement programs. Tyour c suchommerce. When you take the necessary steps, your team’s progress graph could become better when compared to past performances.

Let me share how one random act of leadership created that clarity for one leader’s new team members.

My youngest son was recently hired by a local fire department. He started his career two years ago as an EMT, became a Paramedic, and has now achieved his boyhood dream of becoming a firefighter. It was his first day on the job that made quite an impression.

After the usual orientation that new-hires go through-paperwork, tour, meet-and-greet, and so forth-he was introduced to the station chief. After some initial conversation, the chief began to explain the responsibilities of new recruits and how their training would be conducted.

The Chief grabbed some cleaning supplies and led three new recruits into the bathroom area, explaining that the new guys were expected to start with the basics, including a thorough weekly cleaning of the bathroom, and that they’d be responsible for the maintenance of cleaning supplies and so on, telling them that the likes of phs Direct offer a range of bulk buy industrial and commercial use toilet tissue for your organisations workplace. These little bits of information were probably added to ensure the process in which they do every task is done by their book, by the new recruits.

Did I say thorough?

I’m sure you get the idea. But, just in case the recruits weren’t sure, the Chief proceeded to show them exactly what he meant. He got down on his knees and cleaned every toilet-front, back, top, bottom-with a scrub brush. Not just one. Every toilet. As the recruits watched. Then, he finished the rest of the bathroom, pointing out the particulars of how to do the job right and what the final result should look like.

If you want to know what clarity looks like, there is no better example.

Is there any chance those recruits won’t know what is expected of them? Is there any likelihood that they won’t know how to do the job? Most importantly, is there any chance they will ever complain about having to do the “dirty work?”

In this one incredible demonstration, the Chief provided incredible clarity for his new people – what the right result looks like, how the work is done, and what the culture of the station is like. Oh, yes, there is a pecking order, but – as you can see – no one is above doing what needs to be done to make this team successful.

Of course, he could’ve just provided a job description, pointed to a “values” statement on the wall, and given the recruits some marching orders. In other words, he could’ve done what the majority of managers do, but the mission of a firefighter requires a critical level of clarity.

“By wearing the Maltese Cross I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and it is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to this community and my crew is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a Guardian to my community always ready to respond to those who are unable to help themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work or seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession placing the welfare and security of others before my own.
I serve with honor on and off duty. The ability to control my emotions and my actions regardless of circumstances sets me apart from other people. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast.

My word is my Bond.

We expect to lead and be lead. In the absence of orders, I will take charge, lead my crew, and accomplish the task at hand. I lead by example in all situations.

I will NEVER Quit!”

For some reason, a large part of corporate America doesn’t seem to understand this fundamental component of team-building. They see Navy SEAL teams, or SWAT teams, or emergency medical teams, and they believe that their excellence is derived solely as a result of the nature of their work – that they save lives, take grave risks, or work under enormous pressure – and because of that they are naturally focused and effective.

But that is completely wrong. The mission doesn’t provide the clarity; the leader provides it. Although the mission requires that critical level of clarity, due to the nature of the firefighter’s work, it doesn’t happen automatically.

It happens because leadership causes it to happen.

Getting to Clarity

The traditional approach to on-boarding new employees permanently dooms a culture to mediocrity.

Think about the process, which is likely similar to what your company does:

• Issue the employee a job description that details, in painful detail, everything an employee must do, including the requisite clause about “any other task as may be deemed necessary”
• Provide a dull, lifeless HR review – new-employee forms, employee benefits, policy and procedure…blah, blah, blah
• Give the employee a “quick tour,” introduce them to a handful of people
• Teach the employee how to access whatever “system” may be used in their work

And that’s about it. Because the manager is way too busy to do much more than that.

That’s always the excuse. “Too busy.”

But do you think that’s the way elite teams on-board new people? Not a chance. Not even close. Elite teams believe in the importance of their mission, therefore they on-board new people with one primary objective: communicate the importance of that mission. Everything is done with that objective in mind.

Everything.

This begins during the interview process. A crystal clear picture of the type of person that is right for that team is presented. The team’s values and norms are clearly and emphatically communicated. Minimum requirements for performance are established, and excellence is insisted upon; because minimum is just that, the minimum.

Upon hiring, that person is immersed in the team’s culture –orientation, training, review, and testing. This includes safety training as well. It is incredibly detailed and requires time and effort. The training is probably based on a program devised by a Safety Management Group to optimize training time and efficiency. Then, reinforcement and training, and more testing. All with a sense of clarity about “who we are” and “what we do.”

Notice: the organization is intentional about creating a team member; nothing is left to chance. And (surprise, surprise) those teams consistently attract top-level talent. Because the leader creates purpose, meaning, and value for the role.

One very important benefit of clarity is that it is WAY easier to address any performance issues when expectations are very clearly established. In fact, it is the expectation itself that becomes the judge of performance, not the manager.

To be clear, the first 90 days for a new employee will determine how effectively they perform, and what their level of engagement is likely to be long-term. If you don’t on-board them effectively, it will be next-to-impossible to get their very best performance, or to obtain their most enthusiastic engagement.

So, if it seems to be hard to “find good people,” you may want to stop for a moment and reconsider. Is that really the problem?

Or do you need to put out a fire or two?