As a leader, have you ever given direction to your team only to find a lack of engagement and buy-in? Often, this disconnect happens because leaders fail to properly explain the ‘why’ behind their decisions and plans. Explaining why is crucial for getting your team aligned and motivated.
Gaining Insights from Aaron Kopel
Recently, the chance arose to discuss this topic with Aaron Kopel, founder of Project Brilliant, a management consulting firm that helps companies apply lean and agile principles. Aaron is an expert on agile leadership transformation, and he shared valuable insights during the conversation.
The Need to Slow Down and Self-Reflect
According to Aaron Kopel, one of the biggest reasons leaders neglect to explain the why is the pressure to keep taking action and checking things off the to-do list. “There’s a sense of urgency to just keep going. Everyone just keeps taking action, keeps taking the next step, gets the next thing done,” Kopel stated.
However, he emphasized that by slowing down and taking the time to really explain the rationale, “Things will go smoother. People will be in better alignment.” Self-awareness and conscious effort are required for leaders to break the habit of rapidly executing without context.
The Three Stages of Leadership Agility
Kopel utilizes the “Leadership Agility” framework developed by Bill Joiner and Stephen Josephs to illustrate the progression of leadership abilities. He simplifies it into three key stages:
- The Expert Leader is skilled at doing the work and can jump in to solve tactical issues when needed. However, they lead through an expert lens.
- The Achiever Leader has a bigger-picture view focused on goals, projects, and initiatives. While they don’t necessarily know how to do everyone’s work, they rally the team to accomplish objectives.
- The Catalyst Leader takes the longest-term, coaching-oriented approach. They look years into the future, consider the entire organizational system, seek feedback to improve themselves, and aim to empower others’ ideas – not just their own.
While the catalyst stage represents the ideal for creating lasting change, Kopel noted, “Every organization would benefit from having more catalysts, but there are certainly cases where we need to operate in more of an expert mode or achiever mode.”
Habits for Effectively Explaining Why
Whether an expert, achiever, or catalyst leader, Kopel stressed that explaining why is an essential habit to develop at any level. He outlined several powerful tactics:
- In meetings, resist jumping in first with solutions. Instead, practice intentionally having 3+ others share ideas before weighing in.
- When people bring problems, avoid immediately trying to solve them together. Ask coaching-oriented questions like “What have you tried so far?” and “What do you think would be useful?” Guide them to solve it themselves.
- Use assertive and accommodating styles situationally. Sometimes people need an empathetic ear; other times they need a direct nudge.
- Regularly seek feedback – not just on achieving specific goals but on overall leadership abilities.
- When giving direction, pause and consciously explain the underlying reasons and bigger-picture thinking. Don’t just state what to do.
- Ask powerful, thought-provoking questions to spark engagement around the why.
The Results of Consistently Explaining Why
Aaron Kopel cited Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, as a leader who exemplifies the Catalyst mindset of explaining why. In his book Hit Refresh, Nadella demonstrated looking at long-term impacts beyond immediate goals and considering the larger ecosystem.
When leaders habitually explain why rather than just dictating what, several key benefits emerge:
- People understand the deeper meaning and context, allowing them to engage more effectively.
- More ideas and perspectives surfaced because people don’t shut down after the leader states a directive.
- Employees build their problem-solving muscles through coaching rather than just receiving answers.
- Leaders develop other leaders by making space for people to step up and take ownership.
The core truth is that explaining why and providing transparent context and rationale is foundational for good leadership. As Kopel summarized, “We’re not just trying to give a directive. We’re really explaining the why and letting people engage.”
So if you want a bought-in, motivated team aligned around your vision, start habitually explaining the why behind your decisions and plans. It’s a crucial practice for leaders at any level – expert, achiever, or catalyst. Slow down, become more self-aware, and prioritize giving people that critical context every time.
Listen to the episode: Gut + Science | Episode 230: Explain WHY with Aaron Kopel
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding the roles of expert, achiever, and catalyst leaders can significantly enhance your team’s performance.
- Asking powerful questions leads to a more engaged and proactive workforce.
- Developing a leadership agility framework can support your transition from doing to leading, fostering autonomy and adaptability within your team.
Things to listen for:
03:40 Becoming more self-aware and developing leadership skills.
08:31 Encouraging autonomy, adaptability, and teamwork in transformation.
11:26 Always being the hero can lead to consequences.
13:16 Balance expert and catalyst modes for an organization.
16:43 Advancing from achiever to catalyst through feedback.
