Tom Lemanski's

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Your Critical Pursuit of Clarity

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The 1st C for Success

In case you’ve missed Tom 3 C’s for Success, I ranked clarity #1. The 3 Cs are, in order:

  1. Clarity
  2. Confidence
  3. Commitment

Without clarity, it’s tough to gain either confidence or commitment.  Also true for The 4th C.

Clarity in History

Because clarity is so important, let me attempt to be perfectly clear about defining it.  I use the term perfectly clear somewhat tongue-in-cheek.  It was a pet phrase of former President Nixon and his impersonators. The preface was often completed with “I am not a crook”.  The rest is history.

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear…”             – Richard Nixon

When it comes to clarity or anything else, how often is true perfection really attainable?   Was Tricky Dick setting the bar too high?  Back to the real question.

clarity msoWhat do I mean by “clarity”?  What do we need to be clear about?

First, here’s my chosen Dictionary.com definition

Clarity

  1. clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.

Clear Enough?

OK. There are a lot of big words in that definition. Let’s clarify. Perception and understanding of WHAT exactly?  What kind of clarity do we need to pursue success more effectively?  What we need are Clarity Categories.  Here are my suggestions.

‘Sense-of-Self’ Clarity

How well do you understand your place in the world?  How clear is your purpose? Where are you now? How comfortable are you in your own skin?

Role Clarity

At work:

Where do your job responsibilities begin?  Where do they end?  You might have a job title and description.  But what does all that really mean?  How does your role clarity affect your decision making and job performance?

Off Duty

What are your key relationships outside of work?  How clear are you with your understanding of your roles as a:

  • Spouse?
  • Sibling?
  • Parent?
  • Child?
  • Friend?

Assuming that these roles are important to you, how important is role clarity?  How would you rate yours for each of your key relationships?

Goal Clarity

What are your most important personal goals?  Your most important professional goals?  How do you balance, prioritize and commit to them?

Talent Clarity

What are your world class skills and abilities?   In which tasks do you perform poorly no matter how hard you try?

Self-Direction Clarity

What’s next for you?  What’s your vision for the future?  What do you want life to deliver to you in the time you have left? What would you like said when your eulogy is read?  ticktock.

Last But Not Least: Clarity of Purpose

What is your purpose?  How clear is your answer to this question?  If you enhanced your clarity of purpose, how would that effect your decision making and approach to setting goals and solving problems?  >> More >>

What Does This Have to Do with Leadership?

I believe that self-leadership is a prerequisite for formal leadership.  Before others will follow, they need to believe you are someone worth following.  How clear are you about this question…

Why would anyone want to be led by you?

The more clarity that you have in the categories above, the easier it is to gain positive answers this question.


Coaching Process: A Personal Plug

We actually help our coaching clients to measure their clarity using scientifically validated tools to understand their…

  • Sense of Self
  • Role Awareness
  • Self Direction

My experience with client clarity discussions has taught me the importance of personal clarity as a prerequisite for effective leadership and inspired this article.   Why are these clarity discussions so critical?  I’ve found that nearly all of us struggle to reach our potential for clarity as I’ve outlined here.  I’d be honored to help you.


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And Now, The Entertainment

Our musical guest is Johnny Nash 

2 Responses

  1. Tom, as is typical of you this is terrific. Our friend Simon Sinek would say the clarity comes from knowing our WHY! My own experience bears this out.

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