01/17/2025

Stop Explaining Everything

Abstract instructions empower employees to direct their creative energy

Today, we obsess over metrics and actionable insights. Our desire to be good leaders compels us to overcommunicate the details. But science suggests that overexplaining by communicating details as leaders may stifle our power and our team's creativity.

Do you notice how great leaders speak on lofty abstract topics like belonging and innovation? During her time at Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg said, "Our mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM, said "We see a world where AI augments human intelligence."

The Power of Abstraction

Researchers at UC San Diego explored how powerful people think. Power here was not someone’s formal position in an organization, but the person’s belief in their own capability to create impact. Their personal power. Personal power is the aura that makes leaders like Indra Nooyi and Nelson Mandela powerful, regardless of whether they are standing onstage or sitting in jail.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.