Lead with Super Clarity: How successful leaders achieve exceptional results

By Maanda Tshifularo

These are difficult times. The Covid-19 pandemic has proved to us that we cannot rely on tomorrow to be like today, there is no such thing as 'business as usual'. The social and economic upheaval has been devastating, and its effects long-lasting, making these times even more uncertain.
The antidote to this uncertainty is clarity.
Maanda Tshifularo has had the privilege of interacting with successful innovators, culture shifters, business leaders and thought leaders, and their 'common success denominator' is the ability to see, say, and do things, with purposeful clarity.
He has identified 'Super Clarity' as the differentiator that helps leaders navigate the ambiguity and half-heartedness which have become the default state in many organisations, leading to plummeting employee morale and productivity.
Not only does a super-clear leader achieve and make a meaningful contribution, but they also experience remarkable joy and personal growth in the journey.
It has never been more crucial for leaders to provide clarity and, in this book, Maanda defines and explains the importance of Super Clarity, and how to translate purpose into our day-to-day activities to unlock exceptional results, job satisfaction, team cohesion and employee engagement.
He outlines in Lead with Super Clarity the critical steps that we can take, as business leaders or in our own lives, to foster clarity, and, in so doing, create an environment characterised by purpose, insight and alignment.
Maanda Tshifularo is the CEO and Founder of SuperLead Advisory (a strategy, operations and leadership consultancy), an adjunct faculty at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), an executive coach (Integral Coach UCT GSB and certified Gallup Strength Coach) and host of the SuperLead podcast and leadership summits. As an experienced executive, he has a track-record of leading business turn-arounds, new business ventures development and driving innovation and growth initiatives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tracey McDonald Publishers
• Release date: Aug 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781776260911

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Clarity is a superpower.

When activated, it transforms lives, gives relationships meaning, ignites organisations and determines the trajectories of nations. I am a champion of clarity because I have seen the heights that can be achieved when it’s at play, and I have also witnessed the missed opportunities for greatness that result from its absence.

I will share some stories of how my thinking on clarity has crystallised over time to illustrate why I think it is key. My first one sits right in the centre of my origin story, so I will kick off with it.

My first three years of education were a struggle until one of the teachers, Mrs Hilda Murudi, suggested that I stay back a year to get a better grasp of what was being taught. Being held back was something children were embarrassed about – a sign that you just couldn’t cut it. But Mrs Murudi made sure that the decision benefited me; she worked with me every day, making sure that I had a solid grasp of fundamental concepts, so that by the time I reached Grade 6, being kept back had turned into a real advantage: my foundation was strong, and I had started to do really well.

By Grade 8, my acceleration was in full swing and I was excelling; in fact, I was the top student. By now, Mrs Murudi and her husband, Mashudu (who was also a teacher), were worried that I was being limited by the standard of education at my school, so she helped me transfer to what was considered a superior school. She even went a step further and helped my family pay for my bus fare, extramurals and uniform because we couldn’t afford such luxuries. I eventually became one of the top ten performers in my class.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Murudis changed my life – but I’m certainly not the only person whose path was changed profoundly by their input. When Mrs Murudi passed away in April 2022, I dropped everything to go to her funeral and found that there were many more people who had done the same; she had helped them in the same way.

Although I had always thought that Mrs Murudi had a soft spot for me, it turns out that by helping me, she was simply living out her purpose: assisting kids who were struggling academically. Even after she retired from teaching, she would ask the school principal to give her the names of children she might be able to help – this was her true calling.

Driven by her example, I strive every day to achieve the same clarity of purpose, and to serve people in the same way. Mrs Murudi was my guiding light, and the reason for this book is to help others understand their purpose, and live their lives so that they make a mark – just as she did.

Your purpose is different to your job. Mrs Murudi had a job; she was a teacher, a post she held for 41 years. And yet her purpose continued long after she left her classroom. She persevered, even when she was fighting a chronic illness and unfalteringly kept on helping kids whenever she had the strength to do so, because it was something she felt compelled to do.

Your purpose, then, is whatever gives you energy. It’s whatever you do, even if you aren’t paid to do it. It’s what makes your life count.

The clarity journey

Former NFL athlete Steve Gleason once said, ‘I look at the human life like an experiment. Every new moment, every new experience, tragic or otherwise, is an opportunity to gain a more accurate perspective and helps lead me to clarity.’

I couldn’t agree more with this statement. My journey to clarity hasn’t come about through one single event or moment; instead it has evolved and progressed over a range of experiences.

One of those instances took place recently, in the village where I grew up: Begwa in Tshaulu, Limpopo. Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa and an area of incredible, contrasting landscapes.

I had gone home to spend some time with my family over the festive season and was catching up with old friends at the soccer field where we used to play when we were kids. It was the Festive Season Tournament, and the village kids were playing against the team from the neighbouring village, Lukalo.

As we watched the match, we gave in to nostalgia, talking about our own days growing up.

A typical day started with waking very early to walk down to the river to bathe, sometimes in weather so icy, with mist rising off the water. We had to walk at least five kilometres there and the same back in the afternoon, with shoes fastened by whatever we could find to tie a knot.

Throughout my childhood, my family would build an additional (or a replacement) hut, we’d spend a few hours in the morning making bricks before the school day even began. Even if we were exhausted we were still expected to focus on our lessons. We laughed about how we’d have to make another trip to the river after school to fetch drinking water, carrying it home in a wheelbarrow – and if your barrow was broken, you’d have to find a way to carry 25 litres of water by yourself.

We remembered making a fire so that we could iron our clothes; putting the iron in the fire to heat up, then brushing it clean of ash, and trying not to burn your shirt (again, all before the school day started). We reminisced about how getting your driver’s licence felt like the most difficult thing in the world, and how, when we were playing soccer, our coaches punished us with countless and brutal laps around the field when they thought we needed it.

In fact, to us so many things seemed particularly difficult back then, and yet we pushed through it all with a level of joy and contentment and an unparalleled focus that, in my case, helped me earn five distinctions in matric.

As I reminisced with my friends, I couldn’t help drawing a contrast between that boy who had faced so many adversities, and the man I was at that moment; someone who had single-mindedly pursued not one, but multiple academic qualifications; someone who had worked his way up the corporate ladder, then left to establish a business and relentlessly driven himself to the brink of burn-out. I asked myself why my daily struggles – serving clients, finding creative solutions to complex problems and adding value to individuals and organisations – felt so much harder than those I faced in my childhood, which were objectively far greater.

What I realised, walking back from the field where I had played soccer as a youngster, having achieved so much, but feeling so exhausted, was that in my earlier years, I was galvanised by the clarity of a single, unshakeable goal: to work my way out of poverty.

As a youngster, once I had made the connection that education was a conduit to a better life, I became intensely focused on achieving the best grades, earning a bursary to go to university and, ultimately, emancipate my family from our brutal circumstances. For most of my childhood, my mother worked as a domestic helper, earning R300 per month, raising three of us and our cousins. We endured countless challenges that come with the territory and that’s why, despite having far fewer comforts as a child than I did as an adult, the pressure felt less crushing. My goal was clear and resounding: to get the best possible education – urgently.

Now, with the absence of that single-minded ‘yes!’ my challenges and struggles had started to loom large. Simply put, the pain on the outside seemed far greater than the clarity of vision on the inside.

It got me thinking about how South Africa, as a nation, had once been motivated by a single cause: Defeating apartheid. That vision was the mainstay of our struggle heroes, carrying them through their captivity on Robben Island and in exile. It seems impossible for someone to go through all that they endured and still maintain a sense of love, peace and resolve, but then I think about how they were so intensely clear on what they needed to achieve. This was brought home to me when I read Albert Luthuli’s autobiography, Let My People Go. The former leader of the ANC speaks of how, whenever the party made any money, it was ploughed back into the cause. The organisation was clear that it needed those funds to achieve its huge, overarching objective – nothing else mattered. Those involved in the struggle were prepared to go through physical and mental hardship if it brought them closer to achieving that goal.

Abraham Lincoln adopted the same mentality. In Forged in Crisis, Nancy Koehn writes about how the American president was able to tolerate all manner of challenges in his quest to abolish slavery in the United States.

Research has shown that teams that have a clear sense of purpose and direction consistently outperform those that are plagued by politics and internal conflict. Again, our own country stands as an example: the unity that was created when we rallied to end apartheid has since dissipated, and it feels to me that it was then that we lost our goal, that we lost our way.

I remember discussing this very issue with a former struggle hero during a game of golf. I had asked him how our country came to find itself in its current situation, in a place where corruption thrives.

His answer? During apartheid, those fighting the system were so clear on their vision that they were ready to give their lives for it. This gave people the fuel they needed to cross borders undercover, to take on risks, to essentially become superhuman. Now all they have is money – with no clear direction forward. I found this a very painful synopsis of all that has gone wrong in South Africa. With this book, I aim to reignite that clarity of purpose for us as individuals, as leaders of teams and corporates.

And throughout the book I quote a diversity of people who live out their purpose with clarity. They are people far wiser than me – authors, experts, entrepreneurs, self-starters and pioneers whose words come from books and lectures as well as my podcast interviews and conferences. I’m unapologetic about this, because I think of myself as a knowledge sharer, taking from other people’s frameworks and transmitting their understanding to others. In this way, I am a bridge, making valuable experiences and expertise more accessible; helping others find wisdom where I have done so myself.

We have so many wonderful examples: from mountaineer Deshun Deysel, the first black woman on South African’s expedition to Mount Everest in 1996; Mogau Seshoene (aka The Lazy Makoti), a culinary whizz who left her high paying job in accounting to preserve her culture; Stephen van Coller, a determined executive whose turnaround strategy helped guide EOH, a massive South African company, rebound from crisis. Themba Baloyi, co-founder of Sithega Holdings, and the 2018 AABLA (All Africa Business Leaders Awards) Entrepreneur of the Year, who despite his temporary blindness due to Type 1 diabetes, was clear that no matter what happens with his eyesight, he is committed to making a positive impact in society. We can also learn from Aisha Pandor, whose commitment to keeping thousands of women employed during the Covid-19 pandemic fortified her resolve to find creative solutions.

Over time, I have become struck by the conviction and the sense of purpose that leaders with clear vision display, and how this sets them apart. One of the leaders I interviewed commented that ‘leadership is about providing clarity’ – and I couldn’t agree more.

None of these success stories have been without challenges. These leaders have had to navigate unexpected difficulties, have second guessed themselves and had to rebound from failure, but their clarity of purpose has repeatedly pulled them back to the path of success. These are the stories that have inspired me to pen this book, and which have ignited my Clarity Revolution.

This book is about finding your own way, gaining clarity on your strengths and ensuring that you share that clarity with those around you – so that they, too, can fulfil their potential.

I hope you are as excited to begin this journey as I am to take it with you. Let’s get started.

Chapter 1

IN ALL YOUR SEEKING, FIND CLARITY

I can’t think of another time when it has been more important to be super clear. Even in the best of times, the world is a complex and difficult place – and our current circumstances, characterised by instability and uncertainty, is hardly the best of times. Now, more than ever, we need clarity to create innovative solutions that achieve desired outcomes and make a difference.

I define super clarity as the unique combination of extensive understanding, abundant knowledge, and insight. It’s the combination of what you know, and how you align this with your systems and structures that brings success.

When things are going well, companies tend to become derailed, chasing anything shiny and bright; entertaining ideas that are barely relevant to their operations. As they lose focus, they tend to lose money and increase costs, too. But, as we face the challenges brought about by climate change, geopolitical tensions and crises such as pandemics, there is no mistaking the need to stay on course.

Nor is there any mistaking that we need to be the people who make an impact, make a difference and make a contribution.

Super clarity is no longer an option, it is essential. Every day, we are met with uncertainty and the unknown, yet find ourselves having to make difficult choices. In this milieu, it’s important to remember to make what is important rise to the top and become clear by developing a lens of super clarity. It’s not something we can shelve for later and trot out when it’s time for the next quarterly, biannual or annual review.

The time for super clarity is now.

The case for clarity

Iconic fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg says: ‘Clarity is the most important thing. I can compare clarity to pruning in gardening. You know, you need to be clear. If you are not clear, nothing is going to happen. You have to be clear. Then you have to be confident about your vision. And after that, you just have to put a lot of work in.’

The dictionary definition of clarity holds that it is ‘the ease of understanding one another’. If I’m clear when I communicate, you can understand me perfectly.

I like to look at clarity from three different points of view: you can have personal clarity, strategic clarity, and team clarity. Each of these perspectives may be very different, but they share one very strong component. If I were to distil each to its essence, they would all be rooted in alignment.

Personal clarity

Personal clarity comes about when there is alignment between your values, your purpose and your meaning and, what’s more, when these are aligned to your daily activities. It’s especially important for leaders to have the highest levels of clarity as they often drive agendas and make decisions that impact others.

Strategic clarity

The same goes for strategic clarity. It’s an inevitable outcome when an organisation is clear on its purpose and the reason for its existence, as well as what makes it distinctive and its capabilities, then marries this to the knowledge of how it will execute it to achieve its stated objectives. If there is solid alignment across all of these aspects, the organisation can be said to have a 100% clarity coefficient.

Team clarity

What about teams? Here, the challenge lies in the manner in which most teams are put together – which is typically haphazard, rather than by design. The unstable dynamics that result are exacerbated by the lack of consistency: Often, these individuals who have been thrown together manage to achieve some kind of equilibrium, only to find this undermined when a member leaves the group or there is a change in roles. These issues tend to be papered over rather than dealt with directly, so the strong foundation which would lead to cohesiveness never materialises. It would be far more effective to guide the team towards a state of unity by encouraging them to delve into those dynamics, by asking clarifying questions such as:

Who are we as a team?

How do we work well together?

What are our strengths?

What are we trying to achieve, and how are we going to measure this?

It’s only when there is alignment across these key areas that you can achieve clarity in communication – which, in turn, is necessary in order to have clarity in action. And this is critical if you are to achieve anything else. That’s why I think of clarity in thought, communication and action as the true building blocks of the Clarity Revolution.

The signposts of clarity

‘Clear is kind, unclear is unkind,’ says Brené Brown in her book Dare to Lead.

I first heard this quote some time ago, but I didn’t internalise it until years later when I delved more into what Brené had meant. She says, ‘I saw the data about how most of us avoid clarity, because we tell ourselves that we’re being kind, but actually doing this is being unkind and unfair.

‘Giving people half-truths, to make them feel better, which is actually almost always about making ourselves feel more comfortable. That’s unkind. Not getting clear with a colleague about your expectations because it feels too hard, yet holding them accountable or blaming them for not delivering is unkind. Talking about people rather than to them is unkind.’

Because I have a natural tendency to try to please people, I admit that I am a work in progress when it comes to being super clear in my communication, giving the full truth and, more importantly, giving an unambiguous yes or no, when it’s easier to say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, that would be great.’ In this way, I’ve found myself getting into projects and collaborations I know aren’t really for me.

When I look back at some of my suboptimal business deals and mistakes I have made in my leadership journey (and especially as an entrepreneur), I can almost always trace my poor decisions back to not being super clear with my communication. In fact, the area of communication is the one where I have made the most errors and potentially even ruined relationships.

The Bible has powerful words to say about this. In Matthew 5:37, it states ‘Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.’

My ex-boss and mentor, Laurence Hillman used to say, ‘Maanda, hit on the first bounce.’ My observations of people who lead with super clarity have led me to realise that they are able to do just this. What they say, they mean wholeheartedly – and because of that, you can count on them to deliver. By the same token, if they say no, you know that it’s because they don’t have capacity or they won’t be able to deliver.

If you’re failing to hit on the first bounce, or stringing people along because you haven’t given them a firm ‘yes’ or ‘no’, you’re probably not leading with super clarity – and, as a result, you’re unnecessarily adding to your mental load, and possibly doing a lot of damage to your relationships.

Clarity energises, whereas the lack of clarity leads to a sense of futility and even physical and mental health problems – because, when you don’t have clarity, everything becomes a slog.

I’m not saying that clarity takes the pain out of every situation, but it empowers us.

Clarity of vision has inspired art, music and creativity. When you listen to a song, you can hear when a musician was feeling fired up and writing from the heart, and when they were simply going through the motions – that’s why some songs go on to become classics, and others fade into obscurity. The same applies to art – you can sense when an artist was led by a vision. Creative teams, meanwhile, do their best work when given a clear brief. Great cultures form when we are clear about which behaviours we want to entrench, and which should be discouraged. In contrast, politically charged environments flourish when we aren’t sure about our top values and behaviours.

Here’s a fantastic example from history: Most of us are familiar with Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. It is, after all, one of the most famous speeches of all time. What few people know, though, is that it was almost never heard. King was scheduled as the last speaker on the day of its delivery. He had worked through the previous night on his speech, trying to make sure he covered each of the key points that had been pinpointed by his advisers. Finally, he was satisfied. On the day, he walked to the podium, and started delivering the speech he had written the night before, working through the text methodically – until, suddenly, he stumbled a little over his words. In the silence that followed, one of his supporters shouted out, ‘Martin, tell them about the dream!’

King pushed away the papers he had so painstakingly prepared and spoke from his heart – words that reshaped history, and yet which might not have been heard at all, had it not been for that shouted encouragement.

I wonder if we all have dreams and speeches locked away inside us, yearning to see the light of day. It may even be that you’re not aware of your dream – but maybe someone close to you has seen it, knows it exists, and would love to help you free it.

I think that it’s a great pity that people are always ready to validate our dreams once we’ve made them come true – yet we don’t receive the same kind of praise when we are at the beginning of our dream journey.

Ironically, it’s at this point that we most need validation – and somehow we must find the motivation to move forward, to validate our own dreams before anyone else does. It’s imperative that we do, because it’s when our dreams are aligned to our purpose that we stand the best chance of achieving and experiencing the contentment that comes from knowing we’re doing what we were meant to do.

With clarity comes conviction, and that gives us the stamina to endure the seemingly impossible. People who lead their lives with super clarity do things many