What Our Teams Crave The Most
The one thing your team wants (that you're likely not giving them)
👋 Howdy! Claire here, Founder & CEO of Canopy. I've spent the last decade studying 50+ years worth of leadership research and training 30,000+ leaders. Each week, I distill all my learnings in this weekly newsletter.
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I've worked with hundreds of teams, and the #1 request that team members consistently make of their leaders surprises me every time.
No, they don't wish their bosses were more warm toward them.
No, they don't wish they gave them more compliments.
What they actually want is much simpler:
“I really wish my manager was more clear.”
They want to know where they actually stand in terms of performance, rather than some weird mind voodoo about “growth opportunities.”
They want to know exactly what they could be doing better rather than some vague, passive-aggressive notion of “be more collaborative” or “take more ownership.”
They want to know if their ideas are actually being considered and would prefer an outright “no, not this time,” rather than some blanket corporate speak of “we're processing everything...”
Above all, what teams crave is clarity:
“I wish I knew where I stood”
“I wish I knew what I could exactly do differently”
“I wish I knew where we were going with the overall strategy”
“I wish I knew what the rest of the team was working on and what is going on”
They want to know what you actually mean, rather than what you think they want to hear.
It's harder than it looks
The irony of clarity? It sounds simple but is arguably the hardest leadership skill to master.
One reason it's so difficult is that, sometimes, we ourselves aren't clear on what we're trying to communicate. We're vague about company vision because we haven't fully defined it yet. We say "keep doing what you're doing" because we haven't properly assessed if someone is meeting performance standards.
But there's another challenge: Being clear requires work. Real work. You need to determine not just what to say, but how to say it in a way that's simple, compelling, and something the other person will internalize. Whew. No wonder it feels easier to postpone these conversations…
Yet, postponement means the conversation likely never happens at all.
4 steps to be more clear
To make clarity feel a little less effortful, here are four critical steps you can return to whenever you need to communicate something important:
#1: Set up a topic marker
Signal that something important is coming.
One of the hardest parts about being clear is signaling to the other person that you're about to say something worth listening to. Give them a heads up so they don't mistake your significant message for “just another thing I should be roughly aware of.”
For example, when you want to be clear about a person's performance:
🔴 Don’t just say this: “It'd be great if you could try this next time.”
🟢 Try saying this: “Let’s take a moment to check in and get on the same page about your performance.”
Or, when you want to be clear about team direction:
🔴 Don’t just say this: “Here's what we're working on.”
🟢 Try saying this: “I want to emphasize what our overall direction is and why.”
You'll notice in the ineffective examples, you're rushing into talking about the topic without first signaling its importance.
Set the stage. Flag their attention. Mark the topic.
#2: Have a headline
Make your main point concise and unmistakable.
Just as journalists craft headlines to grab attention, your key messages need a clear headline. The most effective ones are short, direct, and free of corporate fluff.
For instance, when you want to be clear that someone is not meeting expectations:
🔴 Don’t say this: “I was thinking it might be good if we could tweak a few things and maybe you could consider trying some different techniques the next time around.”
🟢 Try saying this: “Currently, you are not meeting expectations.”
And, when you want to be clear that the org is changing strategy:
🔴 Don’t say this: “I think there might be some things that the leadership team ends up thinking through and processing to decide whether or not we should maybe change some things potentially.”
🟢 Try saying this: “We are shifting our strategy.”
Notice how the “Try saying this” headlines mirror your actual intent without softening or obfuscating. Your team craves this concreteness, rather than vague phrases that evaporate and hold no meaning.
#3: Describe the specific impact
Connect the dots between your message and its consequences.
Don't leave your team guessing about how your feedback or information affects them. Make the connection explicit to prevent assumptions.
For example, when you want to be clear about poor performance:
🔴 Don’t say this: “I think it'd be great to clean up some of those mistakes in client communications, as I think it looks sloppy.”
🟢 Try saying this: “The mistakes in client communications impact how likely a client is to renew — so it directly affects business revenue.”
Or, when you want to be clear about a shift in strategy:
🔴 Don’t say this: “We're evolving and trying to improve our recurring sales.”
🟢 Try saying this: “This new strategy means that, as a team, we need to prioritize existing customers rather than new customers.”
“Sloppy” is vague. “Recurring sales” could mean a lot of things. When you focus on describing the actual impact, your message becomes more concrete and actionable.
#4: Invite commitment
Ask for specific, actionable next steps.
For change to happen, you need the other person to commit to specific actions. Don't leave your conversation hanging — extend an invitation that creates mutual accountability.
For instance, when you want to be clear about performance:
🔴 Don’t just say this: “It'd be great if you could take more ownership.”
🟢 Try saying this: “Could you be the owner on writing the to-dos, prioritizing them, and then distributing them?”
When you want to be clear about the overall team performance:
🔴 Don’t just say this: “I'd like us to move with a sense of urgency.”
🟢 Try saying this: “Could we aim to give ourselves at least 2 days of buffer before the deadline?”
The invitation for commitment comes in the form of a direct ask that allows the other person to make their own decision and take ownership.
Reinforcement through repetition
Clarity isn't a one-time event but an ongoing practice. Remember that your team is bombarded with information daily — what seems clear to you may be missed entirely by others.
Share important messages through multiple channels:
Follow-up performance discussions with written summaries
Reinforce strategy changes in team meetings and written communications
Review key points in one-on-one meetings to ensure understanding
There's a leadership platitude about, how as a leader, you should communicate things enough times that you’re get sick of hearing it yourself. In this case, it's a platitude that gained prominence because of how true that actually is.
Nothing should be said just in passing. Intentional repetition helps ensure your message is actually received.
Upfront investment, long-term payoff
I want to acknowledge that this takes effort. Even with the four steps I've shared, you'll have to put in a bit more work upfront and be more conscious and intentional about what you're saying.
But while clarity may require some work initially, it actually saves tremendous time and energy in the long run.
Hours spent clarifying misunderstandings, managing disappointment, or dealing with missed expectations — clarity prevents these issues before they start.
Keep these four steps in mind to make clarity a bit easier to incorporate, day-to-day:
Set up a topic marker
Lead with a headline
Describe the specific impact
Invite commitment
It's an upfront investment, but there's a long-term payoff. And when you do choose to invest, you're able to give your team what they truly crave more than anything else: The clarity to know where they stand, what success looks like, and how they can get there.
-Claire
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If you’re hoping to become more clear + adept in your communications as a leader, here are ways you can directly work directly with me, Claire, Founder & CEO of Canopy:
📣 Invite me to deliver team keynotes and workshops, remotely or in person on topics that help leaders with communicating clearly, including “Effective Communication” and “Communicating Change Well.”
🚂 Partner with me to roll-out a leadership training program for your managers to help them coach and keep their top performers.
🌿 Use Canopy, our lightweight leadership learning app, in your day-to-day.
🤝 Explore 1:1 executive coaching with me personally to help you elevate your leadership keep your best people. (I’ve had a few spots open up for 2025 — I’ve had the privilege of coaching leaders at companies like Apple and Uber, and welcome the opportunity to share those learnings in-depth with folks one-on-one.)
I’d be honored to chat and see what might be the best fit for you. Feel free to reach out to me directly here 💚