Common Sense Leadership: The Antidote to Excuse-Making
Leadership does not need to be complicated. At its core, leadership is built on many pillars, but common sense remains one of the most critical. Yet far too often, organizations get bogged down by needless performance, excuses, and bureaucracy. Common sense leadership is the antidote to excuse-making. It strips away distractions, focuses on what is obvious and necessary, and delivers results for the people and missions leaders are entrusted to serve.
The Power of the Obvious
When a solution is clear and beneficial to the people you serve, your operations, or your team, delaying is a disservice. Research shows that common-sense leadership requires flexibility that balances both organizational needs and moral considerations, sometimes putting ethics above short-term performance or profitability (ideas.repec.org).
Excuses Erode Trust
Leaders who continuously offer reasons why something “cannot be done” slowly chip away at their credibility. Transparency is essential. When decisions are made without explanation, it breaks the feedback loop, harming trust, inclusion, and engagement, and increasing anxiety within the team (neuroleadership.com).
Performance vs. Practicality
Some leaders prioritize performance for show such as rhetoric, meetings, or campaigns over meaningful action. True common-sense leadership cuts through the noise. It is about stripping away unnecessary complexity and focusing on what actually helps the organization and the people it serves.
Great Leadership Disrupts the Norm
Common sense leadership also means being unafraid to disrupt complacency. True leaders often shake up the status quo, introduce changes that have long been avoided, and solve problems that others in power allowed to linger. This can make those who have held leadership roles for years resentful, as meaningful change exposes whether they were all talk and no action, or worse, whether they benefitted from the very problems they were entrusted to solve. Instead of giving credit where it is due or putting pride aside, these individuals often work harder to criticize the change rather than support it. Yet, history shows that progress comes from leaders willing to take decisive action, even in the face of resistance.
Common Sense Protects People and Organizations
Trust underpins successful teams. Studies affirm that authentic leadership fosters trust, which in turn helps employees flourish even under pressure (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Honesty and transparent communication are equally pivotal in building high-performing, accountable teams. Leaders who are transparent and authentic see stronger engagement and results (investors.com).
Leading With Clarity
Common sense is not passive. It is clear, decisive, and empathetic. It is not about having all the answers at once, but about doing the right thing for the people and mission, even if it means keeping things simple. When leaders embrace common sense as the antidote to excuse-making, they stop performing leadership and start practicing it, creating the kind of clarity and action that truly transforms organizations…or even the world.
References
Webber, J. K., et al., “Common Sense Leadership: Evidence From Senior Leaders,” Global Journal of Business Research, 2012. Leaders noted that common-sense decisions often require a moral sense that sometimes supersedes organizational performance and profitability. (ideas.repec.org)
Stovall, Janet M., “The Broken Feedback Loop: How Unexplained Decisions Erode Trust,” NeuroLeadership Institute, January 27, 2025. Unexplained decisions can trigger social threats, eroding trust and engagement. (neuroleadership.com)
Kleynhans, D. J., et al., “Authentic Leadership, Trust (in the Leader), and Flourishing,” PMC (NCBI), 2022. Authentic leadership significantly predicts employee flourishing through trust. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Peterson, M., and Laraway, R., “Honesty Doesn’t Just Make You a Better Person — It Boosts Success,” Investors.com, August 8, 2025. Honesty, transparency, and trust are essential for high-performing teams. (investors.com)