Striving Towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. I’ve seen leaders who take something complex and make it more complex. They add layers, jargon, processes. They create presentations with seventeen bullet points and three backup slides. Everyone leaves the meeting more confused than when they walked in.

And then I’ve seen leaders who do the opposite. They take the mess—the competing priorities, the endless debate, the uncertainty—and distill it down to something clear. Something everyone can actually understand and act on.

The difference is profound.

The leaders who complicate

These leaders aren’t bad people. Often, they’re incredibly smart. They understand the nuances, the fifteen variables that could affect the outcome.

But they can’t let go of any of it.

When they communicate, it’s information overload. They want everyone to know everything they know. Every consideration. Every exception. Every detail.

The result? Paralysis. People leave thinking, “Well, that was thorough… but what are we actually supposed to do?”

The leaders who simplify

Then there are the leaders who understand complexity but refuse to pass it on.

They do the hard work of sifting through the noise, the competing voices, the data—and they extract what actually matters.

They say:

• “Here’s the real problem.”
• “This is what we’re solving for.”
• “Here are the three things we need to do.”

Not because they’re oversimplifying, but because they’ve done the mental work to figure out what’s essential and what’s distraction.

From there, we could move forward. Build consensus. Assign action steps. Get the right people working on the right things.

That’s the power of simplification.

Why simplicity is so underused

Here’s what I’ve realized: simplifying is hard work.

It’s easier to dump all the complexity onto other people than to process it yourself first.

It’s easier to say “it’s complicated” than to do the thinking required to make it uncomplicated.

It’s easier to send the 47-slide deck than to distill it down to the three slides that matter.

Simplicity requires:

• Deep understanding – you have to know the material cold
• Clear thinking – you have to separate signal from noise
• Courage – you have to cut things that might be important to someone
• Discipline – you have to resist “just one more thing”

But it’s one of the most valuable things a leader can do.

The leaders I remember

The leaders who’ve had the biggest impact on me weren’t the ones who impressed me with how much they knew.

They were the ones who made me feel like I understood.

They could take a complex strategy and turn it into clear direction.

They could resolve conflict by identifying what everyone actually agreed on.

They could look at a messy problem and say, “Here’s what we’re going to do”—and everyone nodded because it made sense.

Simplicity is a superpower

One of the best and most underused tools in any leader’s toolbox is simplicity.

Not dumbing things down. Not being reductive.

But having the clarity of thought and communication skill to make the complex understandable. To cut through the noise and give people something they can actually act on.

My challenge to myself (and maybe to you):

Next time I’m about to explain something, send that long email, or deliver that comprehensive presentation—pause.

Ask: What’s the core message? What do people actually need to know? What can I remove without losing the essence?

Do the hard work of simplifying before I communicate, not after people are already confused.

Great leaders don’t make things complicated to prove they’re smart. They make things simple so everyone else can be effective.

And that’s the kind of leader I want to be.