How to Communicate Direction
The most important job of any leader is to communicate the direction.
When you’re just starting out, communicating direction is easy. You’re in the room with every decision. You’re talking directly to the whole team every day. Everyone knows where you’re headed because you’ve said it ten times that week.
But as your company or team grows, alignment gets harder. New teams form, the existing team scales. Middle managers step into leadership roles. Context gets lost, and the clarity that once felt easy starts to fade.
This is where many teams get misaligned and start rowing in different directions, not because the direction isn’t strong, but because they stop communicating it well (or because some team members disagree, which is a whole other topic). It doesn’t matter how coherent or strong your direction is if you fail to convey it across the whole team.
What is “the Direction”?
Great question. This is not the grand Vision Statement on your website. It is the direction you are all headed right now. This can be the current goal or the vision for the product or any information that is critical for the team to make decisions and do their job.
1. Communicate the Direction Consistently
If you want everyone to move in the same direction, your deputies need to be just as clear on the vision as you are.
When you're consistent, your leaders can reinforce and cascade that message. Without that consistency, the direction starts to splinter, every team creates their own slightly different version, and alignment breaks down.
Tip: Use the same language. Don’t “reframe” the direction for different audiences or teams. You want everyone from leadership to ICs to be using the same words and phrases when they describe where the company is going.
2. Communicate the Direction Constantly
Repetition is critical.
By the time you’re tired of saying the direction out loud, some people on your team are just hearing it for the first time.
You need to repeat the direction daily, weekly, monthly, not because people are forgetful, but because you need to hit an effective frequency for people to remember. On top of that, new employees join, teams shift, perspectives change. Repetition keeps the message top of mind and actionable.
Tip: Tie everyday decisions back to the direction. Show how priorities, resourcing, and even what you say “no” to are guided by the direction. Make sure everyone understands why this is the direction.
3. Communicate the Direction Across Many Channels
Different people absorb information in different ways.
Some need to see it in a deck. Others need to hear it in a meeting. Others need to read it in an email.
That’s why you need to use all hands, written updates, standups, and any other chance you get to reinforce the message. The best leaders don’t just say it once they relentlessly reinforce the direction.
Tip: Don’t worry about being repetitive across formats. Being redundant across channels is a feature, not a bug.
When the Vision Changes
As your company grows, so will your understanding of the market, your customers, and your product. That means the direction will evolve.
If the direction changes, say so clearly and explicitly.
Explain:
What changed
Why it changed
How it impacts current work, teams, and goals
Nothing breaks trust faster than pretending the direction didn’t shift. Your team is smart, they’ll notice. If you don’t name the change, they’ll fill in the blanks with rumors and assumptions.
Tip: Use direction changes as a pause. Take a moment to lift everyone’s heads up out of the weeds and reset. Often direction change can benefit from a stop of momentum to restart again on the new path.
Final Thoughts
If someone on your team is asked where the company is going and why, they should be able to answer without hesitation. They should be able to use this information to inform the tactical decisions in their daily work.
I have found that as a team scales more effort needs to be put into constantly communicating direction. Leadership is responsible for making sure the resources on the team are being applied in the most important areas. The best way to do that is to share the current direction clearly, consistently, constantly, and across every channel.