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Leader-Directed or Self-Directed: Which to Use When
For as long as there have been leaders, there’s been a debate about which is better: a hands-on approach or …
Imagine asking a team member for a concise summary and receiving a three-page report, or requesting a polished deck and getting something that reads like a first draft. That gap often has less to do with effort than it seems. Did that person know what “concise” or “polished” meant to you?
Most performance gaps trace back to unclear expectations, not a lack of effort, motivation or skill. What feels obvious in your head is not always obvious to the people doing the work. Clarity is a skill you can practice and sharpen over time.
When your team knows exactly what success looks like, they spend less time guessing and more time delivering.
When a team member’s work misses the mark, your first instinct might be to correct it. A better first move is to get curious. Asking whether your expectation was ever truly clear before addressing the gap makes it far more likely you’ll surface the real issue, rather than just the symptom. Then, you can resolve it in a way that holds up the next time a similar task comes around.
Clear expectations can help your team avoid several compounding costs:
Rework: A clear starting point protects time and morale by reducing the need to redo work.
Misaligned priorities: Clear priorities help each person direct their energy where it matters most, with confidence that they are hitting the mark.
Inconsistent performance standards: A shared definition of success helps ensure every team member is held to the same, clearly understood standard.
Frustrating feedback conversations: Feedback lands better when both sides agree on the standard up front.
Accountability is easier to build when team members are evaluated against standards they’ve had the full chance to understand and ask about. A Gallup study found that 46% of employees clearly know what’s expected of them at work, leaving significant room for leaders to close that gap through clearer communication. Clarity is the foundation of fairness, and building a culture of accountability starts with defining what “good” looks like before evaluating performance.
Before entering a corrective conversation, pause and work through a brief self-check:
Was success clearly defined before this work began? The gap may be one of definition rather than effort.
Did we agree on priorities? Shifting priorities without a conversation can undo earlier alignment.
Did I explain why this work mattered? Context often shapes how someone interprets a request.
Have expectations shifted since we last aligned on them? Revisiting alignment prevents assumptions from going unchecked.
Even asking one or two of these questions during a quick check-in can prevent a week of misdirected effort. These questions ground future performance conversations in shared understanding and create a clearer standard moving forward. Clarity is a shared responsibility between leaders and their teams, but it starts with the leader.
Effective leaders define the standard their team is working toward, then revisit that standard as circumstances change. The following conversations provide a practical framework for setting clear expectations for your team, both before work begins and as priorities evolve throughout a project.
Shift from assigning tasks to describing outcomes. When you explain what the finished work should look and feel like, your team has a much clearer target to aim for. For example, instead of asking for a client update, try describing the outcome as a one-page summary that a client could read in two minutes and walk away confident in your progress. That level of specificity communicates the vision behind the work.
Expectations hold up best when they clearly cover deadlines, priorities, ownership, how often to check in and who holds final decision-making authority. When a team member knows whether they can approve a small vendor change on their own or need sign-off first, they can move forward with confidence instead of stalling or guessing.
Naming these details clearly builds confidence and is part of what makes clear communication so effective. When leaders align on these details up front, the whole organization operates with greater consistency.
Move away from simply stating abstract qualities like “practice professionalism,” “take ownership,” and instead describe concrete actions your team can actually take.
“Communicate proactively” could become “send a status update every Friday by 3 p.m., even if there’s nothing new to report.”
“Be professional” might shift to “respond to client emails within 24 hours and proofread before sending.”
“Take ownership” is more actionable if phrased as “flag any blockers to me by the end of the day Thursday so we can resolve them before the deadline.”
When expectations are observable, coaching becomes more straightforward. It also provides easy reference points to revisit when delivering feedback.
Asking “Does that make sense?” isn’t the most effective way to uncover gaps in understanding. Instead, try asking your team member to walk you through their plan for the first draft or their next two steps. Following this process confirms understanding without questioning their ability. This kind of active listening confirms that what you meant matches what they heard and how they interpreted the instructions.
Priorities shift, projects evolve and business conditions often change quickly. Make adjusting expectations a regular habit rather than assuming earlier conversations still hold.
Consider a team member midway through a project when a higher-priority project surfaces. The leader who circles back and says, “Now that our timeline has moved up, let me walk you through what success looks like given the new constraints,” creates alignment before a gap opens. Consistency comes from staying aligned continuously, not from planning perfectly.
When leaders consistently define what “good” looks like, their teams perform with more confidence, consistency and ownership. Clarity reduces rework, strengthens trust, sharpens coaching conversations and makes accountability feel like a fair, shared standard. That’s the foundation of a high-performing team.
Exceptional leaders make success visible before performance is ever measured. Your job as a leader includes making sure your whole team can see the destination, not just pointing toward it.
At The Center for Leadership Studies (CLS), we built our curriculum around these exact skills. Our Situational Leadership® Essentials course helps leaders paint a picture of success and make expectations observable. Our Situational Conversations™ course strengthens how leaders confirm understanding and revisit expectations as work evolves.
Get in touch to find out more about which course is right for your organization.
