Directness: The Leadership Skill That Turns Conversation Into Clarity

What happens when leaders avoid saying what actually needs to be said?

In this episode of Leadership Traits Decoded, Cynthia Kyriazis and Drea Martin unpack directness—the leadership trait that defines how clearly, honestly, and effectively leaders communicate.

Directness isn’t about being blunt or abrasive. It’s about communicating authentically, constructively, and with candor—so people actually understand what’s expected and what needs to happen next. 

When directness is missing, things break down quickly. Misalignment grows. Accountability weakens. Teams hesitate. And leaders spend more time cleaning up confusion than driving results.

The conversation also tackles a common misconception - direct doesn’t mean rude. In fact, when paired with empathy and emotional intelligence, directness becomes one of the most powerful tools a leader has.

Because at the end of the day—clarity isn’t optional, it’s operational.

You’ll learn:

•  What directness actually means—and why it’s not the same as being blunt
•  Why lack of directness creates confusion, misalignment, and execution gaps
•  How directness supports accountability, trust, and team performance
•  The balance between candor and empathy in difficult conversations
•  Why clear communication is one of the few traits with no true substitute. 

Leaders who avoid hard conversations create confusion—leaders who communicate directly create clarity, alignment, and results.

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.

Transcript

Welcome And Leadership Focus

Cynthia Kyriazis 0:00

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

Andrea Martin 0:07

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

Cynthia Kyriazis 0:20

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 platforms solution. So let's dive

Defining Directness With Candor

Cynthia Kyriazis 0:33

in.

Andrea Martin 0:33

All right, we're back at it.

Cynthia Kyriazis 0:35

We are back at it. Nice to see you again.

Andrea Martin 0:38

Yeah, you too. And I'm excited about today's topic because I think one of the things that comes up so much on these podcasts, if you listen to a few of them, is that we always dive into communication in some form or aspect. Which I'm glad that you all listening to this are hearing that because communication is very important. But today's trait is gonna dive into that a little bit more. One of the ways that we try to capture it is through this trait called directness. So excited to be able to break that down.

Cynthia Kyriazis 1:03

Okay, so what do you mean by directness?

Andrea Martin 1:05

Yeah, so I pulled up crucible definitions here so that we can help you. So directness, we define it as communicating authentically, constructively, and with candor.

Cynthia Kyriazis 1:14

Okay, authentically, constructively, and with candor. Okay, three very distinct and understandable ways to communicate. When someone is really good at that, how do they do that? Give me an example.

Andrea Martin 1:25

Yeah, so when someone is good at that, and there's a reason we chose this word directness, it means that they're likely direct with their communication. So clear communication is something that this would capture. And the idea there is that really they're able at communicating what they're trying to get across appropriately so that they are hopefully being understood. And that's kind of what this trait is supposed to capture is just how naturally they're inclined towards communicating in a way that other people can understand.

When Directness Is Missing

Cynthia Kyriazis 1:54

Okay. And what happens and what does it look like if they're not?

Andrea Martin 1:59

Well, if they're not direct, that's a tough one. No. That's an area where, and it's an interesting one because we we like to look at kind of interplay of different things and kind of what substitutes maybe. And there's some areas there where it's easy, like competitiveness and disdain for losing, two ends of the different coin, what motivates you in getting things done. Directness is a tough one because if you don't have it, there isn't really a good substitute. Because at the end of the day, kind of that communication ability is an important piece. So I'd say maybe one of the aspects that someone could still have higher of that would help offset lower directness would be driving accountability. So at least they're able to make sure that somebody is pushing things forward the way that they need to get done. But beyond that, when someone's low in directness, it means things are probably falling apart on some level because the inability to communicate is not not easy to kind of mitigate.

Cynthia Kyriazis 2:52

Yeah.

Accountability Trust And Buy In

Cynthia Kyriazis 2:53

You know, you said something in there that triggered me. There are four dimensions that we measure within the SageForge platform. And it's communication, trust, alignment, and accountability. Communication and trust having a stronger presence when there it is very common that I either meet a client or read a post about this lack of accountability is what is causing some very significant problems regarding growth in a company, regarding um operational improvements in a company, making a budget sales line, net line. So can you speak a little bit more about accountability in regard to the directness or any other aspect of this of this uh trait?

Andrea Martin 3:38

Yeah, so directness in itself, I'd say, so it is kind of that communication ability. It's interesting that you talk about kind of that accountability sense as something that is distinct, of course, but also can support this area. I think that something that comes out with directness that we measure in two other ways, actually, that are also part of kind of this leadership category, gets at some of what directness is trying to capture, but in a more specific sense. So we have kind of ensuring buy-in, which is can you communicate with the people who need to be bought in and make sure they are bought in to push things forward? And then engaging deeply with stakeholders, which is can you translate the message of what's going on to the stakeholders so that they understand what's going on, get the appropriate message, whether that's sharing the whole truth, sharing the truth in the way that it communicates what they need to know, or kind of whatever protects the business at that point, at that kind of aspect there. So those are two other ways that we try to capture some of what directness is trying to say of like other communication outlets and ways that people can be strong. But the overall directness is just getting at how clear is their overall communication capability.

Direct Does Not Mean Rude

Cynthia Kyriazis 4:40

Okay. What other aspect of directness is there that we need to know about? Because I've I feel like many people that hear this employee or this person is quote unquote very direct, is a negative statement because the word in and of itself connotes maybe rudeness, if you will. Sometimes you use it interchanged. She's very direct or he's very direct. Is that like a bad thing? Or is there, you know, ways in which somebody would need to explain, well, I'm direct. However, I I'm direct with some sensitivity that allows me to do XYZ. I'm just curious, when you when you speak to somebody about their traits and they have the trait of directness, how do they feel about directness before you start speaking to them? Do they feel that it's something that is not such a good thing?

Andrea Martin 5:26

Interesting. So it's not the way the trait is intended. Uh-huh. Um, which is an interesting, maybe it ties in, and that makes me think of kind of some of the more interpersonal aspects. Like, do they have empathy? How's their emotional intelligence when it comes to so the point of the trait directness is really this ability to communicate clearly. So authentically with candor and kind of that constructively aspect. So with candor does mean they're likely pretty direct, but it's not meant to be kind of starkly direct or arrogantly direct or kind of other aspects that might imply rudeness here. It is more truly, how does communication come through? Yeah. Like, can it be clear? And then the other traits might tell you a little bit about how soft it is or how not soft it is. So if they're triggering arrogance, maybe there's a sense of rudeness in some of their communication. If they're highly empathetic or highly emotionally intelligent, it's likely not an issue. But it is an interesting one of how much can you capture in one trait versus needing to look at one trait as one aspect of the ability to communicate, and then the rest as what does that say about the way they might transfer their message? What does that say about their own ability to maybe mitigate potential aspects of something like this connotation of being direct as being rude?

Cynthia Kyriazis 6:40

Well, that's really interesting. You know, I lived in New York City for several years. And when I would tell friends in with other cities that I lived in, that that's where I was, I say, Oh, you know, those people tend to be so direct. They tend to be so rude. And I say, you know what, New Yorkers aren't really rude. New Yorkers are just busy people and they tend to speak directly. And if you push back a little bit, they go, Oh, yeah, okay, that's right. Or that's another thought. It's not that they and so therefore the probably different parts of the country, that word direct is about how that initial communication is. Right. As opposed to, you know, kind of pulling back the curtain saying, you know, there's layers to this, to this trait and to this person. So interesting.

Andrea Martin 7:19

Yeah, interesting. That's

Avoidance Versus Clear Truth

Andrea Martin 7:21

a funny one because I think about, and this is something that maybe in exercise all of us kind of I don't know if other people think of this too, but would you rather someone is direct with you? So they're they tell you something as it is. And of course it'd be nice if there was some more regard for feeling. But if there isn't, at least they tell you what it is. They tell you what they're thinking, they tell you what's going on. Or they don't quite tell you, they kind of try to avoid things, kind of that conflict aversion, don't really want to tell you what something is going on. And then there isn't really, there's the problem, I think, and the reason I would always choose the person who has higher directness, even if that comes with low emotional intelligence, potentially in other aspects, is because if somebody's beating around the bush and doesn't want to tell you something as it is, how do you have clear dialogue with them?

Cynthia Kyriazis 8:02

Right.

Andrea Martin 8:03

If they don't tell you something, they don't tell you either of their experience or give you all the information you need or set the expectations off the bat, it's impossible to find alignment. It's impossible to achieve kind of a level ground. It's impossible to have a conversation that's completely on the same page and get to a place where everyone knows what's going on and is in tune with kind of their own responsibilities and the needs of the organization.

Cynthia Kyriazis 8:25

And gives them the opportunity to move forward. Right. Because as you were describing that, I was thinking of the difficult job that doctors have when they have to deliver information about someone's health that isn't good. Right. Right? Do you want that doctor to skate around it for five minutes, or do you really want the doctor to say, this is, you know, this is what the uh the outcome, this is what the tests showed. Right. So they're always in a kind of difficult situation. And I have a cousin who's a doctor, and he's very direct with his communications, and I always say, that's because he has to be that way. Yeah. And you know, he can laugh, yes, we get him to laugh, but uh yeah, it's a difficult thing to do for someone. That's an interesting one.

Andrea Martin 9:01

Yeah. How do you make sure you're just conveying the information that needs to get conveyed? And of course there's better ways to do it and worse ways to do it.

Cynthia Kyriazis 9:07

Right.

Andrea Martin 9:08

Even if you understand the person that you're talking to a little bit more, if you have a relationship with them, understanding and bringing as much of kind of the information you have to how can this conversation go the most smoothly

Empathy And The Closing Links

Andrea Martin 9:18

it can, especially when it does contain more difficult aspects.

Cynthia Kyriazis 9:22

But for sure, because you're ex you're expressing your empathy.

Andrea Martin 9:25

Right.

Cynthia Kyriazis 9:25

Which is the one thing that if nothing else came out of COVID, the information to managers to learn to be a little bit more empathetic with the people that report to you. Right. Because everybody's going through a rough time. I think that word has been out there. So in fact, the other day I saw an advertisement in for an online for an insurance company, and the tagline is we bring empathy into the equation.

Andrea Martin 9:48

Oh.

Cynthia Kyriazis 9:48

So I thought, okay, you guys learned really well.

Andrea Martin 9:50

Yeah. Yeah. I don't usually associate empathy with insurance.

Cynthia Kyriazis 9:54

I know. Right, right. That that's why it caught my eye. Because you know, the industry feels they have a black eye and they don't really do that. Well, whatever. So, anyway, so that that's what brought that up for me. Well, thank you so much for all that information about directness. Yeah, yeah. And I hope our listeners uh got some ideas from that. Yeah, for sure. See you next time. 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 www.plab.com. Or you can listen on your favorite streaming platform.

Andrea Martin 10:31

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.