Clear is Kind. Unclear is Unkind.
The 5 C’s of a Conscious Company Culture: Clarity
As we continue covering the 5 C’s of a Conscious Company Culture, this week we’ll focus on the need for Clarity. This quote from Brené Brown perfectly captures why clarity is so needed in the workplace:
“Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. Not getting clear with a colleague about your expectations because it feels too hard yet holding them accountable or blaming them for not delivering, is unkind.”
This is one of the top challenges that comes up in almost every coaching session. Either my client is unclear on what’s expected of them, or they aren’t providing sufficient clarity to their direct reports. Either way, it causes manifold problems for them and their coworkers.
For each of the 5 C’s, there is a question you can use to rate yourself. For Clarity, the question is, “Does your team know what’s expected of themselves and others?”
Again, you can do a quick gut check on this by rating on a scale of 1-10; 1 being not at all, 10 being absolutely. You can also ask team members to offer their own rating of Clarity. If anyone rates Clarity below an 8 or 9, there is opportunity to provide more information and answer questions so they have greater clarity.
It’s understandable that we have such a lack of clarity in the workplace. We all come to work with different experiences and perspectives of the world. How we define and interpret things is as unique as every person. If a manager says, “I’m not getting the results I want to see,” this conveys nothing concrete to their team. The team can become anxious because they know their manager isn’t pleased with their performance but tells them nothing about how they’re missing the mark.
Instead, the manger can provide clarity: “I was expecting us to hit $10,000 in sales this month, but we only reached $5,000. How can we hit $10,000 next month?” The team then creates a plan together that will hit that specific number. Every team member should know their part in that plan and have a clear deadline. This provides the clarity necessary for a strong culture where every team member can thrive.
These are the most common issues related to lack of clarity:
Roles, Responsibilities, Expectations (RREs)
Decision Rights
1:1 Meetings and Reviews
Compensation and Promotion
Internal Systems (HR, PTO, accountability, etc.)
Lack of clarity about any of these leads to all sorts of contention, frustration, and lack of collaboration. If someone isn’t clear on their RREs, they can underperform or start doing work outside their scope. If their manager isn’t providing clarity through regular 1:1 discussions, they will be shocked or disappointed by their performance review, when they discover they’ve been way off course.
Same goes for decision rights. If someone isn’t clear on who gets to make decisions about a project or budget, it results in unnecessary bickering or resentment amongst team members, and therefore a weak or even toxic culture.
Another big challenge I frequently encounter in coaching sessions is lack of clarity on how to get a raise or promoted. One client—who was a new manager at the time of our coaching—shared how a direct report was frustrated and acting out because they didn’t get a promotion or raise. When I asked what it would take for this employee to get both, the manager didn’t know. That lack of clarity was causing problems for both the manager and direct report.
If there is lack of clarity around internal company systems, this causes frustration as well. Staff need to know company processes such as how to ask for PTO, or how to submit expense receipts in a consistent, orderly fashion. Complicated or inadequate processes, or not clearly defining what accountability look like can also contribute to a poor culture.
Harkening back to Brené Brown’s wisdom, we want to cultivate kind cultures where people feel confident. When there is lack of clarity, there is an unkind culture. We cannot hold accountable ourselves or our teams if we don’t have clear expectations.
One very concrete way to ensure clarity is to have clear definitions of and expectations for everything. Once you share those definitions and expectations, ask your team members to explain their understanding of those definitions and expectations. If there is any misalignment in their understanding and yours, get curious and ask questions until you have a “meeting of the minds” and can move forward with truly shared, completely aligned expectations.
I highly recommend tools like 15Five’s Best-Self Kick Off document because it helps managers and their teams identify lack of clarity. By filling out the document separately and then coming together to review your answers together, you can identify lack of clarity and misalignments. And once you all have clarity, you can continue cultivating your conscious company culture.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant, and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
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