Certainty over Clarity

…so the third temptation of a CEO is Choosing certainty over clarity… . This is an interesting behaviour sometimes characterised by an over zealous nature when it comes to the detail! It is so tempting, especially if it is your area of expertise, for the ego’s desire for approval comes riding in on its white charger to correct, suggest, and, in excess, drive underground the willingness of people to contribute and challenge arguments presented in a meeting. The temptation to be seen to be all knowing and so all powerful can be overwhelming at times, whereas the role of the leader is rather better served by the leadership team being enabled, supported and encouraged to bring their options, opportunities and innovation to the table.
It is,of course, important that the leader has some care for detail, and is prepared to interrogate when necessary, in order to improve clarity. Sometimes, however, the desire to be right, exceeds the desire for clarity!
the role of the CEO, I often think, is that of a translator, for example translating vision into easily digestible chunks for people to understand and get behind. For translating the latest “crisis” into an easily manageable situation, with calmness and oversight. That person who dives into all the detail of ever aspect of the challenge presented, simply has no time to oversee the landscape, and becomes buried in the opacity of the detail!
Some questions to look out for:
Do you take pride in being absolutely accurate in all that you do?
Do you prefer to wait to have all the information at your disposal before making any decision?
Do you love to interrogate down to the core of a problem, when you get the chance?

If your eyes are down in the detail – who is watching the road?