As I mentioned in a post last month — How to Get More Clarity — clarity leads to power. How? By eliminating illusions and reducing confusion.

Which leads to self-trust and confidence.

To accomplish this we must “look” at our own assumptions, beliefs, and thoughts. This helps us keep those that are true and discard those that are not. I was 35 years old before I learned this, and it blew my mind.

Part of clarity obviously is understanding correct information and clear definitions.

Another part of clarity is removing

obstructions or removing confusion.

So there are two parts that I think about when I think of clarity:

1. Gaining accurate knowledge, truth, or reality.
2. Eliminating inaccurate knowledge or mental obstructions in the way of having that accurate knowledge.

Teaching and understanding The Responsibility Process™ is a process for clarifying — i.e., clearing — what is and isn’t responsibility.

All seven words on The Responsibility Process poster are definitions of responsibility used in our society. Think about it. If you blame somebody else, we say that’s not taking responsibility at all. Instead it is assigning responsibility for your problem to someone else.

Think about it. When I’m thinking, “You make me mad!” the truth is that that person isn’t making me do anything. Instead it is my own thoughts about that person’s actions that are making me mad.

The clearer I am about this, the more powerful I am in response to others. Try it.

Leaders and coaches: Get Christopher’s best team building and leadership strategies collected over two-plus decades of solving teamwork problems for smart people. Attend the acclaimed Creating Results-Based Teams workshop, or get this FREE Special Report while it lasts: The Five Flawless Steps to Building a Strong Executive Leadership Team.

Christopher Avery, PhD, is a recognized authority on how individual and shared responsibility works in the mind and an advisor to leaders worldwide.