Often we wear many hats, that is, we have many roles. At times it may seem that we have too many. However, it may be that we may need to clarify what hat we are wearing at the present moment. Often we are placed in situations where multiple roles appear to need to be present. What we must do is clarify what role we are in, or need to be in. We must do that for our audience, as well as for ourselves. Let me repeat that last statement with emphasis -- we must do that for our audience, as well as for ourselves. If you are conversing to a subordinate, are you the boss, an advisor, or just a listening ear? If you are discussing a piece of work to be accomplished, are you the do-er, an advisor, a business analyst, an end-user, a decision maker, or etc...
Transistioning this thought to real life in the business world, ensure that role changes are justified and also not premature. If you are discussing a business issue or business challenge, ensure that you stay in a business problem definition role. Don't switch to a role of solving the problem before you have ensured the problem is fully defined. Human nature will often cause us to solve the problem before we know what the real problem is.
