Leadership isn’t about clarity everywhere

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THE ART & SCIENCE OF LEADING SELF
The Power of Perspective

My friend, at the beginning of May, I had the opportunity to visit the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Talk about a paradigm shift. 🤩

Seeing his earliest sketches alongside his later works, across drawing, painting, silkscreens, sculpture, and more, was a gift. As an art lover, I got lost in the creative genius. As I wandered through the galleries, something unexpected happened. Leadership insights began to emerge from the artwork surrounding me.

One sketch in particular stopped me in my tracks: Two Sprite Acrobats.

What caught my attention wasn't just the subject matter, but Warhol's compositional choice. The faces of the girls were almost featureless, while he reserved precision and detail for the acrobatics. This wasn't merely an artistic decision. It was a profound statement about where attention belongs.

I found myself wondering: What might change if leaders approached leadership with this same intentionality about where you place focus?

Where you choose to bring clarity and where you intentionally leave space shapes not just your experience but the reality of those you lead. It's a form of composition that few leaders consciously practice.

Clarity is most critical where it drives momentum

I want to reiterate: Warhol's choice to leave the faces undefined naturally draws your eyes to the movement. There's wisdom here that extends beyond art.

In leadership, you often feel pressure to bring equal definition to every aspect of your work. Yet, the most powerful clarity often emerges when you're selective. It frees you to bring sharp focus to the points that truly drive momentum while intentionally creating space elsewhere.

What might become possible if you stopped trying to bring high-definition clarity to everything and instead reserved it only for what truly matters?

Over-explaining can dilute impact

As I reflected on Warhol's restraint, I realized how often leaders (you included, perhaps?) try to spell everything out. You add detail upon detail, believing more explanation equals more understanding.

But what if, like Warhol, the absence of certain details actually strengthens the overall impact? What if leaving strategic "white space" invites others to contribute their own interpretation and ownership?

Where might your tendency to elaborate actually be diminishing your impact? The discipline of knowing what not to say often creates more powerful presence than saying everything that comes to mind.

Know when to step back

I continue to ponder how the absence of facial detail allowed the action to take center stage. This principle carries profound implications for how you show up as a leader.

Perhaps the moments when you intentionally step back aren't signs of disengagement but expressions of deeper leadership. When you remove yourself from center stage, you create space for other voices to emerge.

When was the last time your strategic absence created an opening for someone else's strength to shine?

Art, at its most powerful, doesn't just represent reality—it invites you to see differently. I submit that leadership at its best does the same. Like Warhol's artistic choices, your leadership focus doesn't just capture what is; it creates what becomes possible.

Art leaves space for interpretation. So might your most impactful leadership.

FROM INSIGHT TO ACTION
Putting It Into Practice

The Focus Lens Exercise

Choose one upcoming leadership moment this week. Before you step into it, ask yourself:

1. What single element deserves my sharpest focus?

2. Where might less definition create more possibility?

Like Warhol's acrobats, your leadership becomes more impactful when you decide what to emphasize and what to intentionally leave open to interpretation.

DEEPENING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Resources for You

📚 "The Laws of Subtraction" by Matthew May explores how removing certain elements often creates greater impact than adding more. (Link)

🎯 This Harvard Business Review article offers practical insights on strategic focus and knowing what to ignore. (Link)

🔍 Andy Warhol's artistic approach to focus and emphasis provides surprising lessons about success. (Link)

🧠 "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown offers a disciplined pursuit of less but better - perfect for leaders wanting to master strategic focus. (Link)

EXCELLENCE UNBOUNDED
How I Can Help You

High-performing executive teams don’t happen by chance. They happen by design.

Aligned Senior Leaders Are:

✅ 1.9x more likely to achieve above-average financial performance
✅ 2.5x more likely to have satisfied and engaged employees

Aligned Companies Are:

✅ 58% faster revenue growth
✅ 72% more profitable

Misaligned companies underperform in the following ways:

❌ 50% lower ROIC
❌ 18% lower EBITDA
❌ 25% loss of revenue
❌ Reduced productivity
❌ Slower strategic execution

Book a call to learn more about The Executive Alignment Playbook 🚀, an immersive, experiential leadership program.

Realign your leadership team. Accelerate execution. Drive measurable results.

🎤 Speaking Engagements: My mom can attest to the fact that I LOVE to talk. 😂 Now, I put that talent to work delivering talks on Mindset, Courage, Resilience, & Innovation.

A few past clients include KraftHeinz, Amazon Women @ Payments, PAHEi, & the Panamá Chapter of the International Coaching Federation (I delivered this talk in Spanish).

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MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD 📢

Until next Sunday,

Shawnette