TL;DR
When execution slows, it’s rarely a motivation or effort problem. It’s almost always a clarity and accountability problem.
Leaders carry context others don’t. When priorities, ownership, decision rights, and “what good looks like” aren’t explicit, teams fill in the gaps differently—and work stalls.
More communication doesn’t fix this. Clear ownership does.
Clarity isn’t a moment or a deck. It’s an operating discipline that has to hold even when you’re not in the room.
Over the years, many of us have noticed that when work breaks down, leaders often look for more effort or urgency. So what truly gets in the way of execution? In practice, execution usually slows for a different reason: lack of clarity and accountability. Most leaders think they’re being clear.
We’ve talked about the strategy. We’ve shared the priorities. We’ve said what matters.
And still—things slow down. Decisions get, well… weird, or they don’t happen at all. Conflict is avoided, and work starts to drift.
That usually gets blamed on people, or process, or “execution.”
It’s almost always a clarity problem.
The longer you lead, the more context you carry around without realizing it.
Leaders (or even senior managers, and yes, there is a distinct difference) know why a decision was made three quarters ago.
You remember the tradeoffs and have internalized the constraints.
Yet, your team hasn’t.
I’ve been guilty of this more than enough and have caught myself more than once thinking, how is this not obvious? Only to realize later that it was obvious because I lived it, not because I explained it.
That gap is small in our heads. The gap is massive on the floor.
So, what happens… Well, when things start to wobble, leaders and managers often respond by communicating more.
More meetings… more updates… more words… more phone calls… more tasks… more, more, more.
That reaction rarely fixes the wobble.
Clarity doesn’t come from saying more. It comes from being more specific.
Clarity is built on the following:
What actually matters right now. What doesn’t. Who owns what, why, and by when. What “excellent” or “good enough” looks like.
And clarity is built on what decisions people can make without asking.
If those things aren’t clear, everyone fills in the blanks differently.
Here’s the part that gets glossed over:
Clarity without ownership creates chaos.
(Thanks to a great team member who recently said this back to me; it’s a simple truth)
Shared priorities with no clear owner turn into turf wars, while unclear decision rights slow everything down. Ambiguous accountability guarantees rework, delayed work, and lack of… well, work.
These simple mantras over the years continue to hold true - If no one owns it, everyone touches it. And when everyone touches it, nothing moves.
A lot of leaders treat clarity like a moment.
A kickoff, an announcement, a deck.
But clarity isn’t an event. It’s an operating discipline.
It has to survive new hires, shifting priorities, bad weeks, flus, grumpiness, and leaders being out of the room when tough decisions need to be made.
If things only work when you’re in the meeting, they don’t actually work.
What I’ve seen help (and what I’m implementing in my role) — without overengineering it:
In the short term, be ruthless. Defined, short scopes. Fewer priorities. Clear owners. Explicit “done.” No competing goals. Defined follow-up protocol. Visual & verbal confirmations.
Over the long term, build systems that don’t rely on memory or heroics. Implement decision guardrails, keep a consistent cadence. Review the process, listen to your teammates, and improve it frequently. Progress builds momentum. Define clear expectations that show up in performance conversations and don’t let them slide.
None of this is flashy. All of it compounds. Reminds me of endurance sports "zone 2 training" - can be boring as heck, yet builds the strongest engines.
Clarity isn’t about being nice. It’s about being fair.
As leaders, let’s be fair to people trying to do good work. Let’s be fair to operators navigating tradeoffs. Let’s be fair to the business that needs execution, not intent.
It’s our job to remove ambiguity and proactively communicate clarity.
Where have you seen a lack of clarity do the most damage?
Next up: why clarity without ownership creates chaos — and how leaders accidentally create it.