If It Lives In Your Head, It’s Not Leadership: Why Clear Communication Makes Teams Stronger
A few months ago, I was coaching a senior leader who was frustrated that her team “didn’t take initiative.” She kept saying, “They should know what to do by now.” But when I asked what she’d actually told them—what behaviors she’d recommended, what success looked like, what decisions she wanted to make—she paused.
“Well,” she said, “I expect they would know this by now.”
Here’s something I’ve seen play out over and over again: what’s obvious to you is rarely obvious to your team.
And while we often treat communication like a soft skill, the lack of it has very real consequences. Teams get stuck, projects stall, morale dips, and people spin their wheels trying to decode subtle cues and vague directions instead of just doing the work.
Clear communication isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential for leadership.
It’s also one of the most common themes that comes up in my coaching conversations. I work with senior leaders and mid-level managers who want to improve team performance—but don’t realize that the root issue is unclear communication.
Through coaching, we break old habits like hinting, suggesting or assuming, and build new patterns for saying what you mean, giving your team clear direction, and creating trust through transparency. It’s not about micromanaging—it’s about providing explicit expectations so everyone is aligned and people can thrive.
Vague instructions are a hidden leadership risk
This problem isn’t about intelligence. Most of the leaders I work with are incredibly smart and highly experienced. The challenge is that once something becomes second nature to you, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that others are still learning how to think like you do.
I once worked with a leader—let’s call him Michael—who wasn’t getting productive execution from a promising direct report. “She’s not proactive,” Michael told me. “She doesn’t follow through.” But when we reviewed Michael’s emails and one-on-ones, there were no clear directives. He was hinting, not leading.
Once we tightened up his communication—creating clear meeting agendas, clarifying his expectations, and setting timelines—that “unreliable” team member started delivering beyond expectations.
It wasn’t a performance issue; it was a clarity issue.
Communication isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a performance driver
According to McKinsey research, high-performing organizations are 3.5 times more likely to have effective leadership communication systems in place. Teams that communicate well move faster, collaborate better, and retain talent longer.
SHRM found that poor communication costs companies an average of $62.4 million per year in lost productivity. And according to Forbes, clear communication is the single most important leadership skill for the future of work.
Think about that - not vision, not gravitas, not experience, but clarity.
Because in today’s environment—where teams are hybrid, deadlines are tight, and Gen Z expects directness—vague leadership is expensive.
The “figure it out” mindset doesn’t work anymore (it never really did)
Some leaders push back on this. They say things like, “I had to figure it out myself,” or “That’s how I learned—by trial and error.”
Here’s the thing: that doesn’t make it right. It just means you survived unclear leadership and not everyone on your team will. And you might recall that the vague directives and the unclear expectations were the primary source of your earlier career anxiety.
Younger generations, especially, have different expectations than their predecessors. They’re not lazy or entitled—they just value clear communication. According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, Gen Z and Millennials rank “clear expectations from managers” as one of the top factors in job satisfaction and engagement.
If you withhold clarity as some kind of initiation test, or because you don’t want to seem bossy, you’re not building resilience or job satisfaction, you’re building frustration.
When you lead with clarity, you don’t limit someone’s autonomy. You give them the freedom to act decisively because they understand the context. You create trust, build their sense of accountability, and yes—things go a lot faster.
3 steps to communicate clearly with your team
So how do you actually do it? Whether you're a seasoned executive or a first-time manager, here are three ways to make your communication clearer and more actionable:
1. Start with intent
Before you meet with your team member, ask yourself: What do I want this person to walk away knowing, feeling, or doing?
Name that intention at the top of the conversation. Don’t bury the lead.
Instead of:
“Let’s chat about the budget.”
Try:
“I’d like your input on two decisions we need to make about next quarter’s marketing budget.”
2. State expectations out loud
Don’t assume people “get it,” even if they’ve been in the role a while.
Say things like:
“What I need from you is…”
“The outcome I’m looking for is…”
“Here’s what success looks like…”
It may feel overly simple but simple is what works.
3. Check for understanding
End with something like:
“Can you walk me through your plan so I can make sure we’re aligned?”
You’re not quizzing them, you’re confirming clarity. It’s a small step that prevents major breakdowns later on.
And if you want more language around how to have direct but kind and supportive conversations, my blog post on How to Give Tough Feedback Without Making People Hate You includes scripts and strategies for keeping things constructive.
Clarity is a kindness and a competitive advantage
One of the most common “aha” moments my clients have is realizing that the should in their heads—“They should know this by now,” “They should be more proactive” is actually a red flag.
If someone “should” know, but doesn’t, it’s not time to double down on tough love. It’s time to double down on communication.
Clarity builds confidence. Confidence builds speed. And speed, grounded in trust, builds results.
So if you’re wondering why your team feels stuck, ask yourself this: Are you leading aloud? Or are you expecting them to read your mind?