The Manager - 133 - Clarity is your friend
Monday 5th April 2021 - Clarity is your friend
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Hi,
I hope you’re doing safe and well. It is the Easter break here in the UK and as such I’ve had a nice weekend with my family. I’ve taken a few days off from doing any work and just chilled, which has been nice. A chance to focus my energy and attention on my pillars of life.
I hope you are doing safe and well.
Clarity is your friend
I often say that 99% of problems in business are caused by poor communication. I’m likely not far from the truth. Clarity is your friend in all that you do, whether you’re a manager or not.
Clarity of direction, clarity of expectations, clarity of acceptable behaviours, clarity of requirements or customer expectations.
It’s not easy to communicate with clarity. Many people believe clarity of communication is merely an outside thing; of choosing the right words and delivering them in the right medium and in the right way.
This is partially correct - these things matter. But clarity of words and communication comes from somewhere deeper, they come from your clarity of thought.
The study we have done about the work, our understanding of the problems or opportunities and the clarity of our own thinking. Are we taking on too much, juggling too many competing ideas, feeling overwhelmed? These will all play a part in how we communicate with others.
When I wrote the communication workshop, I had this in mind. It’s why one of the 11 core principles of communication is that we can hack ourselves. We can calm ourselves down, change our own mood, deal with stress and become a stable and calm version of ourselves. It’s not easy and it requires daily practice, but when we regain control of our own thoughts and emotions, our communication improves naturally.
We can then take account of Purpose, Audience and Context, the medium, our body language, our enthusiasm and more.
If you’ve followed me long enough, you’ll know I use a personal life system that combines a painted picture of who I’m trying to become and who I want to help. I use goals to set a target, then I focus on routines to do the work (discarding the outcome of the target as it’s not in my control).
I write all of this down in a moleskin book each December, after doing my annual review.
In the front of that moleskin book are quotes and ideas to keep me honest. One of which is this:
“In your actions, don't procrastinate. In your conversations, don't confuse. In your thoughts, don't wander. In your soul, don't be passive or aggressive. In your life, don't be all about business.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Clarity.
Clarity over thoughts, emotions and my soul. Which in turn helps me to be clear in communication - and not confuse people. I don’t always get it right, but when I do - everyone succeeds.
That’s what business needs. Not just more empathy, or more entrepreneurship, or more leadership, or more tech, or shorter release cycles, or more engagement surveys. Our business teams and employees are simply crying out for more clarity.
What are we trying to achieve?
Why are we trying to do it?
Who is it for?
What is expected of me?
What does success look like?
Who does what?
Who is here to support me?
Why should I invest my energy and attention in this work?
When are we done?
How do I know I’m making the right decisions?
Clarity. The best companies have leaders and managers who, going back to Marcus Aurelius, don’t procrastinate, don’t confuse, don’t wander and aren’t passive or aggressive. They also aren’t all about business.
Communication, clarity and your own thoughts go hand in hand. If you find yourself communicating with little clarity, is it your words and communication style that need some work? Or could it be your own thoughts and focus?
Have a cracking week of clarity of heart, soul, body, mind and communication. :)
Rob..
Interesting articles
1. Over communication is just as bad as under. Nice article here on the Trello blog about how to get the balance right between under and over communication.
2. How would you like to see what your colleagues earned? Interesting move by Buffer to be transparent about what people earn. It's all here...everyone who works for buffer...and their salaries
3. Remotely leading. A decent article on how to lead remote teams. Even when we're allowed back into the office, there will be many companies that stay remote, or have a hybrid model. Here's how to lead remotely.
4. Move it, move it. Great leaders move people. Here's how they do it.
5. Manage time. I'm a big fan of Todoist - I use it as my personal task management system. They write great articles too. Here is one on managing time. As I argue in my book though, it's not time we need to manage, it's energy and attention. Still, insightful as always from the team at Doist.
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Rob..