Detail Orientation - When Precision Becomes a Leadership Advantage

Why do some leaders thrive in the weeds while others miss critical details?

In this episode of Leadership Traits Decoded, Cynthia Kyriazis and Drea Martin explore the leadership trait of detail orientation - when it matters, when it doesn’t, and how to build systems that support it.

From Cynthia’s real-world story of a client stuck in big-picture thinking, to Drea’s insights from platform data, they unpack how detail orientation functions across roles - and why more isn’t always better. 

A CEO may not need deep detail skills if the right teammates are in place, but when a whole leadership team is low on this trait, performance risk emerges.

You’ll learn:

• When detail orientation is essential - and when it can be delegated
• How to spot team imbalances that affect execution
• Development strategies that use systems, not just habits
• Why detail skills must align with both role and team dynamics.

Whether you’re detail-driven or not, this episode offers practical insight into making detail orientation a team asset - not a leadership gap.

Ready to explore your leadership traits? Connect with us on LinkedIn or visit www.plllab.com to see how we transform leadership intelligence into return-driven action.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Leadership Traits Decoded
• 1:43 The Detail Orientation Challenge
• 3:02 Defining Detail Orientation in Leadership
• 4:05 When Low Detail Orientation Works
• 5:59 Team Balance and Skill Development
• 8:26 Conclusion and Next Steps

Transcript

Cynthia Kyriazis: 0:03

Welcome to Leadership Traits Decoded. I'm Cynthia Kiriasis, Chief Experience Officer at the Culture Think Tank.

Drea Martin: 0:10

And I'm Drea Martin, Product Owner of the Crucible. We are collaborative partners at Performance Leadership Learning Lab, where we transform leadership intelligence into return-driven action.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 0:22

Today, we're unpacking the leadership traits essential for building, investing in and scaling successful companies. Our insights come directly from data-driven metrics within our platform's solution, so let's dive in, all right. Well, hi Drea, how are you doing? After all your travels? You've settled back in. Yes, settled back in. How are you today? I'm good. I'm good.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 0:53

I'm looking forward to this issue, or this recording today on our podcast, because I had something come up just last week around the topic we're going to cover today, which is detail orientation. Some people love it, some people don't love it. It has a lot to do with their own traits, so to speak, but I had this come up with someone. I'm the person in the culture think tank that they always know. Okay, she's going to have a list of questions, because I think more in detail, naturally, and because that's part of my role.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 1:19

So I was asking questions of this client and the responses I was getting back were not exactly what. I was asking questions of this client and the responses I was getting back were not exactly what I was asking for. They would take a step back and they would talk about the big picture, because that is how they think. They would talk about the big picture and I would try to lead back into getting a response to the detail question that I was asking. This went on for quite a while and then he was called into a meeting, so I couldn't finish the situation and I thought, oh, I would like to finish this discussion and get more of insight from Drea about this issue around detail orientation, because, again, it's my experience that people either have it and love it or don't have it and don't love it or need to work on it either way.

Drea Martin: 2:05

Right, it's difficult. Yeah, it leads to some tough conversations too. If you can't get through, give you the tangible next steps, the details, the facts, what you need. It's difficult.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 2:16

Yep, that's it. So I need to know your words of wisdom from our traits assessment.

Drea Martin: 2:22

Yeah, happily. So we can start by just defining detail orientation and I know it's kind of it's a silly definition because it's that simple it's paying attention to details, but it's really referring to a person's ability to thoroughly and accurately focus on all parts of, let's say, a task or a situation. So that's where I'd start with really understanding what is detail orientation. It is one of those things where you can have it and love it, or not have it and hate it. But I'd say there's that in between too, where there's people who have it, but maybe their role doesn't call for it as much, or they don't have it and it's something they desperately need to work on because it's something that they should be carrying that responsibility within their team. So there's an interesting differentiation there too.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 3:10

Oh, that's why I love doing this with you, because you always provide a perspective for me that I haven't thought about. So that was really interesting. That was really interesting. And, yes, it's a developmental need, for sure. What else can you tell us about it?

Drea Martin: 3:21

What else can you tell us about it? Yeah, I think an interesting part with detail orientation and this is something I've run into a lot is that often when you see low detail orientation, people think of it as like, oh, that's probably an orange or a red flag. But I've actually seen situations where someone doesn't have to put that time into that area of development and increase their score in detail orientation because of their role within an organization. If somebody has, say, for example, there's a CEO who's low detail orientation, but they have their COO or a VP that's got their back, or their team as a whole is just high focus on detail and they don't have to be that person who's carrying that kind of that information with them, then it's less of a necessity.

Drea Martin: 4:04

So it's interesting for this trait in particular and for most of the traits that we're going to talk about. They're often ones where, if you're much lower in them, you want to look at okay, this is something I should probably develop. But there's also that step back of what does my team have? Do I need to be the person who contributes this skill, or am I in a situation where there are other things that need my attention more, maybe other traits that are more essential to my development and my role and my need that are more important. So I think that's been a very interesting learning. Especially when people look at tests or kind of assessments as a whole, they think like higher and everything is better, like anything. It's important to remember. Sometimes it's okay and sometimes it's so okay and so out of your role that it's not even something you have to focus on.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 4:59

Yeah, those are really good points because it is a continuum, isn't it? You go from one end where you're really connected to it to the opposite end where, no, I don't think I can do this. But there can be a middle ground, maybe not for everyone, not just from a personal level, but from a role level. The CEO doesn't necessarily need to know a whole lot of detail. They're there for more strategic contributions. But it's good to know and to remember that there is this continuum so that, as I've learned, if the score on detail orientation happens to be low for that individual, that's one thing that can mean okay, a development opportunity here.

Drea Martin: 5:37

That is low for the entire leadership team or for the majority of the leadership team, we have to kind of step back and reassess again, correct, yeah, or figure out how do you supplement that team, who do you bring in, or even who is highest or most inclined and trainable in the ability then to take that on. And that's an interesting part with this, because detournation is a tougher one to learn. It's less of a how do you learn how to do it and more if you know you're not strong in this area. Setting up a system or a reminder or something in place. That basically brings you back to this. Don't forget, the details are important. Are you collecting your information in a way that makes it easy? Do you have some way of tracking or some way of keeping tabs on the things that might fall through the cracks? And taking that extra time or that extra push of this can't fall through the cracks and you're the person who has to adjust and grow and learn how to do this and taking on that responsibility.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 6:38

Those are really awesome points, because a lot of people won't think of that or haven't thought of that. How do I approach something that's as natural as detail orientation and try to get it to help the person identify it, give them the steps to try to work towards improving that area if, in fact, you know they need to do that and then stepping back and assessing themselves or having their supervisor assess how they're doing as they progress through it? It's true of any skill set. It doesn't matter, but it improves performance. It certainly improves productivity. It takes some pressure off by thinking, oh, you're just not detailed enough, cynthia, or something like that. It eliminates the values around it in understanding that we can all learn if we've got the right environment and the right steps to take. Yeah, awesome information, drea, that's awesome. I just loved it. Do you have anything else you want to add?

Drea Martin: 7:33

I think that's the main aspect of it. It's just how do you make something like that, if that's a lower area, as easy as possible. Use your environment, look at your team, figure out if there is someone who could be pulling that lever, just like you do for your own team. Cynthia, you're a great example of if they weren't asking you to keep track of all the details, what a loss of talent and a skill set that they could be taking advantage of in terms of just making sure that you're contributing everything you bring to the table. So look for who has that strength and if no one does, look for who you want to put that on their plate.

Cynthia Kyriazis: 8:09

Right. Yeah, because it's a team effort and we all bring something to the equation, whether we've learned it or whether it's natural to us. So thank you, drea, for all your wonderful information, and I look forward to our next discussion on our podcast for next time. Yeah, sounds great. Thanks, cynthia. Bye-bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of Leadership Traits Decoded. You'll be able to find all our episodes on the Performance Leadership Learning Lab website at wwwplllabcom, or you can listen on your favorite streaming platform.

Drea Martin: 8:45

We'll be back soon to explore the next essential trait. Until then, feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn if you have any questions or ideas.