Communication and Clarity

“A good boss/leader will give clear and concise information… They will guide the team or individuals to create something great.”

“Give me a presentation on (_______) so we can impress the client” is not a clear mission.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched good employees fail because their boss gave them garbage instructions. And then – here’s the kicker – the boss blames the employee for not delivering what they wanted. It’s infuriating, and it’s completely avoidable.

Let me paint you a picture. You walk into your employee’s office and say, “Give me a presentation on our new product so we can impress the client.” Then you walk away, feeling like you’ve done your job. Congratulations – you’ve just set your employee up for failure, and you don’t even know it.

What’s The Mission?

An army sergeant doesn’t send soldiers into battle without a detailed plan. They outline the mission clearly so everyone knows what the end goal is and how to get there. But somehow, in the corporate world, we think vague instructions are sufficient. They’re not.

Here’s what your employee actually needs to know: Who is the client? What specific aspects of the product should we highlight? What’s their biggest concern or interest? How long should the presentation be? What format do they prefer? What’s the timeline? What does “impressing” them actually mean – are we trying to close a sale, get approval for the next phase, or secure additional funding?

See the difference? When you give clear, detailed instructions, your handpicked, qualified staff can walk out of that meeting inspired and ready to create something amazing. When you give them half-baked directions, they’re left guessing, and guess what happens when people have to guess? They guess wrong.

A bad employee will have a bad boss. I’ve seen this pattern repeat itself countless times. The boss thinks their staff is lazy or incompetent, but the real problem is upstairs. If you’re not giving proper, clear instructions to your employees, they will be lost, confused, and unable to figure out the task at hand.

The main problem is you. This might be hard to swallow, but it’s the truth. When your team consistently underperforms, when projects go sideways, when presentations miss the mark – look in the mirror first before you start pointing fingers.

Communication is what’s needed. Not just talking – communicating. There’s a massive difference. Talking is when you throw out vague instructions and expect miracles. Communicating is when you take the time to ensure your message is understood, when you provide context, when you give your team the tools they need to succeed.

I’ve worked in companies where the boss was always in meetings, always busy, always important. But their team was constantly spinning their wheels because nobody knew what the actual priorities were. Everyone was working hard, but nobody was working effectively because the communication was terrible.

Your job as a leader isn’t just to have the vision – it’s to translate that vision into actionable, clear directions that your team can execute. If you can’t do that, you’re not leading, you’re just creating chaos and then wondering why everything’s falling apart.

So before your next meeting, before you give your next assignment, ask yourself: Have I given them everything they need to succeed? Would I be able to complete this task with the information I’ve provided? If the answer is no, don’t blame them when they don’t deliver what you had in your head but never actually communicated.

Clear communication creates great employees. Vague instructions create frustrated ones.

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