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It’s not the loud mistakes that drain your leadership impact. It’s the quiet ones you don’t see coming.
You’re busy. I get it. But here’s the quiet truth. So is everyone else. So why should they, or anyone, invest time in your message if you haven’t?
Consider this wisdom from 1773.
“Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”
How should you apply this to making your messaging more effective?
Many leaders believe their title alone earns them an attentive audience. After all, you’ve put in the years, built the track record, and have the corner office (or at least the corner Zoom square). Surely people will give you their full attention.
Here’s the communication clarity blind spot:
Without those, your words get filtered through distractions, assumptions, and competing priorities, often before they even land.
Think of the last meeting you ran or email you sent.
Did you pause to define the purpose of your message before delivering it?
Did you shape it for your audience’s perspective, not just your own?
Did you make it easy for them to see why it mattered right now?
Or… did you trust that because you’re the leader, they’d “get it”?
When leaders skip these steps, they unintentionally hand their audience the burden of figuring out the meaning. That burden creates friction—and friction erodes influence.
One of the most common refrains I hear from senior leaders is, “I don’t have time to overthink my communication.” The problem is, this assumes that sharpening your message is “overthinking.”
In reality, it’s the opposite! It’s disciplined thinking. And when you don’t do it, your team ends up doing the rethinking for you, in the form of clarifying questions, corrections, and course changes. The time you thought you saved gets charged back with interest.
So what does the “too busy” belief really mean? How is it helping your cause?
Poorly aimed messages can lead to:
Misaligned actions (“I thought you meant…” moments)
Reduced trust (“They’re just talking to check a box”)
Decision fatigue (“What exactly are we trying to do here?”)
Multiply that across weeks, projects, and teams. The leadership influence you’ve worked years to earn quietly drains away.
Ask yourself:
How much of my communication is intentional versus habitual?
Am I assuming shared understanding without checking for it?
Would my message stand on its own if someone shared it second-hand?
The leaders who keep their influence sharp are the ones who own the stewardship of their message. They take responsibility not only for saying it, but also for ensuring it’s received, understood, and acted upon.
This isn’t about adding hours to your day, it’s about getting a greater return on the minutes you invest in communicating.
Because in leadership, your influence is only as strong as the clarity of your next message.
What’s one important message you need to deliver this week? Take five extra minutes to tighten its purpose, sharpen its clarity, and connect it to your audience’s priorities. Then watch the level of audience engagement.
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