Clarity Precedes Performance
Aug 26, 2023
Without clarity, high performance is impossible.
High performance is about quality output over time.
When you have clarity, you know what to do and by when.
Without clarity, there are opportunities for distraction and inefficiency.
Without clarity, you are like a ship in a harbor without a destination, and no wind will suffice.
In this article I am going to teach you the three big clarity questions you need to answer to prime yourself for higher performance.
Without clarity, we are distractable.
With clarity we step onto the path of achievement.
Clarity questions
It is impossible to create too much clarity. It is like eating too healthy, or being too fit, or being too educated.
You can create clarity in all things, however there are three particular clarity questions to begin your performance enhancement:
- What do you want?
- Who are you becoming?
- Where are you now?
Using the ship analogy, you need to know where your destination is, what boat you need to build to get there, and what kind of boat you are in now.
Let’s start with your goals.
What do you want?
The first clarity question is one of outcome.
What are your goals?
The ship must know it’s destination to know which route to take.
Let’s take health as an example. What do you want to look and feel like?
Specificity is the key.
How much do you want to weigh?
What do you want your body to look like?
How much energy do you want?
What kind of diet do you want to stick with?
Creating clarity here eliminates choices and forces a particular path.
If you want more muscle mass, you need to lift. This eliminates long hours of cardio.
If you wish to run a marathon, it eliminates hours of weight training.
The more clarity you create, the more clear your path becomes.
In the world of leadership, clarity looks like this:
What kind of leader do you want to be? Visionary? Transforming? Supportive?
What do you want your followers to feel?
How do you want to show up for your team?
Think of what you want. Then dig in.
Once you are clear on your outcomes, we need to establish another bit of clarity…
Who are you becoming?
Your outcome is the thing you want.
To achieve those things currently beyond yourself, you must grow.
What do you need to learn to reach your goals?
Who do you need to BE to achieve more?
Do you need more discipline? Do you need to learn more skills? Do you need to practice behaviors?
An outcome of this clarity topic is a list of things you need to learn.
Make a list of the things you need to learn.
What resources do you need?
Can you hire a coach?
Do you need books or courses?
Back to the boat analogy: What is the most effective ship to get to a destination?
You may represent a sailboat. But if you want to bring more people to port, maybe you need to become a yacht or cruise ship.
There is a future version of yourself.
What is that person like? What do they know? What have they done? How do they show up to conversations?
Imagine your ideal future self. Identify the gaps. Then plan to fill those gaps.
But how do you know if you are already there?
Self-awareness is key. Create clarity with this third question.
Where are you now?
A boat cannot chart an effective path without knowing where it is starting from.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What do you enjoy doing? What are your natural preferences?
For this clarity exercise you can sit with yourself and reflect. But there will be bias.
It is helpful to get feedback from others on this front.
Find people you trust and ask them:
- What is my greatest strength?
- What is holding me back?
- What should I reconsider to perform better?
- What impact do I have on you and others?
By creating clarity about your current state, you can better identify the gaps you need to fill.
I work with leaders who want to improve their influence.
To improve influence we must first be aware of how we show up for others.
Presence, listening skills, communication style… all of these aspects must be understood and acknowledged before we can make gains and improvements.
How often have you felt you have strength in a skill only to discover you have much progress to make?
This is good.
Clarify where you are at so you can chart a course forward.
The Wrap Up
Clarity precedes performance.
Create clarity on what you want, who you want to become, and where you are at.
These three things will allow you to chart an effective path forward.
Without this clarity you risk wasting time working on skills or tasks that are ineffective.
Without clarity you are more likely to suffer from distraction.
Create clarity and crush it.
Clark