Today, during rinse number 7 of my clientsOPUS, I asked him to play back what he had heard regarding our last nuance. I asked him to write it out. As he wrote, so did I. I wrote out what I had wanted him to hear. He wrote out what, in fact, he had heard.
When he finished writing I asked him to speak. I tuned in. He had heard the melody line and was about 95% clear on the change to his latest rinse. He was missing a few nuances and that was about it. Here’s the sad truth about clarity. Clarity is binary; either you have clarity or you don’t.
Fairly clear, pretty clear, mostly clear, and almost clear are the same as being blind when it comes to your OPUS. Humans only connect to crystal clarity and even then, only rarely. The least bit of fuzziness, fog, or slight vagueness and humans simply cannot see. This is why countless times each day in nearly every place of work, really good associates gather around and ask if anybody knows where we’re going. This is why every CEO on the planet is tired of reminding the team of the vision long before the team has any idea what he or she is talking about.
Remember, as leaders, you can be dead wrong about the future and the team will still follow; you cannot be unclear. Crystal clarity is required. This is why we rinse your OPUS until it’s squeaky clean. And, this is why we align your PoP with a rigorous discipline that borders on obsessive. You are either aligned or your NOT.
Rinse your OPUS. Rinse it some more. Practice connecting it to your team and asking them what they heard. Tune in and make sure that they got it. Make sure they got it ALL. Y.O.U. are either clear or you’re not.
Clarity is the ONE you want…
BUILT TO LEAD 