A 3-Part Series with Insights from Former Professional Rugby Coach & Leadership Advisor, Neil Tunnah

“Leaders Don’t Have a Clarity Problem. They Have a Complexity Problem.”

Most leaders think they’re clear communicators, they pride themselves on it. Until they realise their team heard five completely different versions of the same message.

Recently I sat down with Neil Tunnah, former professional rugby coach turned leadership advisor for an episode of Future People (listen here). There was one quote that resonated deeply with me -

“High performance is about making the complex simple. Not simple-minded. Simple enough to execute under pressure.”

In elite sport, you don’t get the luxury of waffle. Players are making decisions at high speed, under fatigue, and in the case of my former sport, often carrying 130kgs of muscle, pressure and fatigue.

If the message isn’t clear, you lose. It really is that simple.

The Corporate Problem: We Overcomplicate Everything

In business, leaders often bury clarity under a barrage of slides, jargon, meetings, value posters, overly clever strategy language and 'alignment session' that align no one.

Clarity isn’t created through more. It’s created through less.

And here’s what happening in corporate environments time and time again:

1. People can’t action complexity

A strategy wall might look impressive. But if your team can’t explain it in their own words, it’s not strategy. It’s decoration.

2. Communication isn’t about talking.

It’s about landing. “Every interaction is either building trust or eroding it.”

People are constantly scanning, closely examining tone, body language, silence, speed. If they don’t trust you, your message will not land. I'm sure we can all think of a scenario when we've listened and thought - 'yeh right, heard it all before.'

3. Simplicity takes discipline

It’s easier to add more. Harder to strip things back.

Silence helps. Short sentences help. Questions help. Listening helps. By Listening I mean really deeply listening.

But many leaders do the opposite.

The Real Skill: Saying Less, Meaning More

The best leaders I work with communicate consistently like elite coaches:

• Simple language
• Short instructions
• Clear expectations
• Zero assumptions

The result? Their teams move faster, with more confidence and far fewer mistakes.

Because people understand them. They have clarity.

The Takeaway



Focus less on sounding smart. Focus more on being understood.

Your people shouldn’t need to decode you. They should hear it once and get it.

Next week, Part 2: Why Most Leaders Are Secret Bottlenecks

We’ll explore why empowerment fails, why leaders struggle to let go, and the single behaviour that transforms team performance in 90 days.

What’s the clearest piece of leadership communication you’ve ever received? I Would love to hear your experiences.