Leadership clarity

By Rushdi Kirsten

Leaders do not need more meetings or louder opinions, they need cleaner decisions that people can follow and when work moves fast the gap is rarely skill, it is usually clarity. Teams that move are the ones that make decisions the same way each week, with the same language for value and risk, and with the same rules for who owns what. This article gives you context for why clarity slips, practical tools to restore it, and a cadence you can start next week. You will leave with examples to copy, a run sheet you can print, and a simple scorecard to prove the change.

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Why this matters right now

Across clients, I see the same pattern. The calendar is full. People work hard. Progress is thin. The issue is not effort. It is clutter in the way decisions are made and communicated. Three things drive the clutter.

1. Hidden decisions
   Updates bury the call that must be made, so meetings swell and no one knows what changed.

2. Fuzzy risk
   Risks are listed without a clear control. People try to cover every angle which slows delivery and weakens ownership.

3. No shared language
   Different leaders use different words for value, risk and priority. Teams cannot align because the mental models clash.

Grow Coaching internal observation from the last twelve months across mid to senior teams in Australia.

Clarity fixes these by creating a shared way to speak about decisions. You do not need a new toolset. You need a simple rhythm and a few clean templates. If you want a deeper container for this work, explore my page on leadership coaching for cleaner decisions.

What leadership clarity looks like in practice

Leadership clarity is the ability to state a decision in one sentence, name the trade-off you accepted, and explain the control you will use to protect the outcome. It is not a performance. It is steady thinking in public so people can align and act.

Signals of clarity

• A one sentence decision that a new starter can repeat

• One main risk named in plain language with the control beside it

• One owner and one next step with a date

• A short review that checks the thinking as well as the result

The weekly decision cadence

Run this rhythm for four weeks. Expect meetings to shrink and cycle time to fall. If you want a quick outside view on your rhythm, you can book a short Clarity Audit.

Monday focus

1. Write three decisions only
   Not tasks. Decisions that would move the work this week.

2. Name one risk and one control
   Keep it plain and practical.

3. Stakeholder move
   Who must find the week easier because of this decision. Write one action that makes it easier for them.

Midweek pulse

• Ten minutes on each decision to confirm facts, remove a blocker or give authority

• If a decision is not ready, write the one question that would unlock it and the person who can answer

Friday review

1. What changed because of each decision

2. Which decision created drag and why

3. What to do differently next week

Keep the review to fifteen minutes. You are checking decisions, not status.

The one-page decision memo

Use this for calls that matter. Share it before a meeting or attach it after you decide. Keep it to a single page.

Decision to:
Write the call in one sentence, clear enough for a new starter.

Context in four lines:
What triggered the call. Who is affected. What timing matters. What value is at risk.

Options considered:
Two or three only. One sentence each.

Chosen path and trade off:
State the call. Name the trade off you accept.

Risk and control:
Name the single risk that could burn you and the control you will use.

Owner and next step:
One person. One action with a date.

Review:
When you will check the effect and what would make you reverse the call.

You can print a run sheet version and hand write it. If you want a branded copy, tell me and I will send it with your colours and logo.

Before and after examples you can copy

Example one. Platform migration

Before
“We discussed the platform. Team prefers Option B. Risks to be managed.”

After
Decision to migrate reporting to Platform B by 30 April
Context service instability and cost growth in current platform. Finance and Customer teams affected. Contract renewal due in May. Outage risk and margin at risk.
Options extend current contract. migrate to B. split workload for three months
Chosen path and trade off migrate to B now and accept a six week parallel run
Risk and control data loss risk controlled by phased cutover and daily reconciliation
Owner and next step Priya to sign vendor SOW by Friday
Review service and cost check three weeks post cutover

Example two. Policy change with resistance

Before
“Stakeholders pushing back. We will keep consulting.”

After
Decision to publish policy guidance by 10 March with staged adoption
Context new compliance requirement from regulator. Operations and Partners affected. Fines and public trust at risk.
Options publish full policy in February. run pilot and publish in March. delay to Q2
Chosen path and trade off run pilot first which slows full roll out by four weeks
Risk and control partner resistance controlled by a joint briefing and a grace period for low risk items
Owner and next step Helen to confirm pilot sites by Monday
Review two week feedback loop then finalise wording

These examples are short by design. People can read them in under one minute. The record also speeds onboarding because new leaders can scan prior decisions and learn how the team thinks.

Meeting design that stops swell

Bad meetings are not a calendar problem. They are a decision problem. Use these rules.

• Start with the decision required

• If no decision is needed, cancel or replace with a short update note

• Ask for the trade off rather than an update

• End with one owner and one next step

• Hold a five minute buffer to confirm understanding or to book any follow up

Agenda template

1. Decision we must make today

2. Two options in one line each

3. Chosen path and trade off

4. Risk and control

5. Owner and next step

6. Review date

Influence without theatrics

You grow influence when you make decisions easier for others. That means you show your working, meet people where they are and remove one obstacle that matters to them. Influence is not volume. It is clarity plus empathy.

Three micro skills

• Start with their concern in their words

• Offer a small adjustment in timing, scope or communication that protects their priority

• Show the path to yes by making the risk and the control visible

Short script you can try

I hear that your concern is [specific concern]. If we adjust [aspect] by [small change] we protect [their priority] while still delivering [outcome]. The control will be [control]. Can we move on that basis.

The ten-minute case drill for leaders

Sometimes the right answer is not obvious and you need to think in public. Use this five step structure to avoid waffle in meetings and briefings.

1. Prompt
   Name the core problem in one sentence.

2. Clarify
   Ask one or two questions to test the brief. People respect leaders who check assumptions.

3. Structure
   Outline a simple path. Assess. Consult. Decide. Communicate.

4. Trade off
   State the main risk, the control and why you chose that balance.

5. Close
   Give a one sentence recommendation that links to value for customers or the public.

Guide timing
Prompt one minute. Clarify two minutes. Structure three minutes. Trade off two minutes. Close two minutes.

Two mini cases from the field

Mini case one. Delivery drift
A service team kept slipping. Every risk spawned a new meeting. We flipped the cadence. Each week began with three decisions in a shared document. Each had one risk, one control, one owner. Meetings started with the decision and ended with one next step. Within six weeks throughput stabilised, meetings dropped by a third and the team recovered two mornings a week for deep work.

Mini case two. Incident response calm
A national team had long review calls after incidents. We introduced the one page memo and the ten minute drill. Debriefs moved from blame to controls. Leaders named one decision to stop repeat events, one owner and one review date. The number of open actions fell by half within a month because each action had a single owner and a clear finish.

Measures that prove clarity

You get what you measure. Track these for four weeks and share the trend.

• Percentage of meetings that start with a decision to be made

• Number of decision memos created each week

• Cycle time from request to decision

• Percentage of decisions with a named owner and a date

• Friday review completion rate and the top theme spotted

A short line in your Friday note is enough. You do not need a dashboard to start.

Your 30-day plan

Week 1

• Publish the cadence and the memo template

• Write three decisions for the week and name one risk and one control for each

• Redesign one meeting with the decision agenda

Week 2

• Run the ten minute drill in one live session

• Create two decision memos and store them in a shared folder called Decision Library

• Remove one meeting that does not serve a decision

Week 3

• Coach two direct reports to write their first memo

• Track the measures for the first time and share the trend

• Run one short learning session on trade offs and controls

Week 4

• Review what improved and what created drag

• Tidy the library and highlight one memo as a teachable example

• Agree two small changes to the cadence and keep going

Common traps and the fix

• Reciting frameworks instead of making a call
  Write the call in one sentence first. Then explain the thinking behind it.

• Risk overload
  Name one main risk and one control. Park the rest. You can always add a control later.

• Jargon over clarity
  Speak to value and risk in plain terms. Use the other person’s language for what they care about.

• Trying to please everyone
  Decide who the decision is for. Optimise for that group and inform the rest.

Leadership clarity checklist

• Three decisions written each Monday

• One risk and one control for each decision

• One-page memo for significant calls

• Meetings start with decisions and end with owners

• Friday review completed

• One meeting is removed each week that does not serve a decision

Closing thought

Clarity compounds. When you write decisions in one line, name a trade-off and show a control, your team learns to think the same way. Meetings shrink. Work moves. You will not need to be the loudest voice in the room. You will be the clearest.

Next step

If you want a sounding board for your decision cadence, book a short call here. It is diagnostic rather than a coaching session. We will name one pattern that holds your team back, choose the first proof to publish and set a weekly rhythm that fits your load.
The full solution lives inside a coaching partnership.