How do you build a team that doesn’t sit around waiting for instructions? What if your people knew exactly what to do, even when the plan changed and you weren’t in the room to explain it?

This episode explores the tension between roles that demand split-second precision and those where ambiguity is the norm. McKinlay Otterson talks with Carey Jones, former Flying Training Wing Vice Commander at Laughlin Air Force Base and retired fighter pilot, and Brad Harker, a senior sales leader, about what it really takes to drive clarity, alignment, and high performance even when the feedback loop is slow and the outcomes aren’t obvious.

Questions we answer:

02:52 – How do you drive performance when your role has no clear feedback loop?

07:13 – How can leaders productively leverage subjectivity and interpretation?

08:30 – How do you know if your team is actually having the impact you intend?

14:37 – What does it take to create clarity without micromanaging?

19:32 – What happens when strategy lacks clear measures of success?

23:00 – What does it look like to execute on commander’s intent in business?

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