diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 542964c834..9fca9e4658 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 - New option for [`operator-sdk build --image-builder`](https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/blob/master/doc/sdk-cli-reference.md#build), which can be used to specify which image builder to use. Adds support for [buildah](https://github.com/containers/buildah/). ([#1311](https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pull/1311))
 - Manager is now configured with a new `DynamicRESTMapper`, which accounts for the fact that the default `RESTMapper`, which only checks resource types at startup, can't handle the case of first creating a CRD and then an instance of that CRD. ([#1329](https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pull/1329))
+- Unify CLI debug logging under a global `--verbose` flag ([#1361](https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pull/1361))
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/cmd/operator-sdk/internal/genutil/genutil.go b/cmd/operator-sdk/internal/genutil/genutil.go
index e9c1c53558..b49ad9d5ca 100644
--- a/cmd/operator-sdk/internal/genutil/genutil.go
+++ b/cmd/operator-sdk/internal/genutil/genutil.go
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	flags "github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/internal/pkg/flags"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/internal/pkg/scaffold"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/internal/util/projutil"
 
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
 func buildCodegenBinaries(genDirs []string, binDir, codegenSrcDir string) error {
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ func runGoBuildCodegen(binDir, repoDir, genDir string) error {
 	}
 
 	// Only print binary build info if verbosity is explicitly set.
-	if projutil.IsGoVerbose() {
+	if viper.GetBool(flags.VerboseOpt) {
 		return projutil.ExecCmd(cmd)
 	}
 	cmd.Stdout = ioutil.Discard
diff --git a/cmd/operator-sdk/main.go b/cmd/operator-sdk/main.go
index 8826dcaa10..14dcea2a74 100644
--- a/cmd/operator-sdk/main.go
+++ b/cmd/operator-sdk/main.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/internal/util/projutil"
 	"os"
 
 	// Import all Kubernetes client auth plugins (e.g. Azure, GCP, OIDC, etc.)
@@ -32,8 +33,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/cmd/operator-sdk/test"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/cmd/operator-sdk/up"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/cmd/operator-sdk/version"
+	flags "github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/internal/pkg/flags"
 	osdkversion "github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/version"
+
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	_ "k8s.io/client-go/plugin/pkg/client/auth"
 )
 
@@ -42,6 +47,17 @@ func main() {
 		Use:     "operator-sdk",
 		Short:   "An SDK for building operators with ease",
 		Version: osdkversion.Version,
+		PersistentPreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			if viper.GetBool(flags.VerboseOpt) {
+				err := projutil.SetGoVerbose()
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Errorf("Could not set GOFLAGS: (%v)", err)
+					return
+				}
+				log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
+				log.Debug("Debug logging is set")
+			}
+		},
 	}
 
 	root.AddCommand(new.NewCmd())
@@ -58,6 +74,11 @@ func main() {
 	root.AddCommand(olmcatalog.NewCmd())
 	root.AddCommand(version.NewCmd())
 
+	root.PersistentFlags().Bool(flags.VerboseOpt, false, "Enable verbose logging")
+	if err := viper.BindPFlags(root.PersistentFlags()); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Failed to bind root flags: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	if err := root.Execute(); err != nil {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/operator-sdk/scorecard/cmd.go b/cmd/operator-sdk/scorecard/cmd.go
index 9cca90a2ba..c8c8542b1c 100644
--- a/cmd/operator-sdk/scorecard/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/operator-sdk/scorecard/cmd.go
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ func NewCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	scorecardCmd.Flags().String(scorecard.ProxyPullPolicyOpt, "Always", "Pull policy for scorecard proxy image")
 	scorecardCmd.Flags().String(scorecard.CRDsDirOpt, scaffold.CRDsDir, "Directory containing CRDs (all CRD manifest filenames must have the suffix 'crd.yaml')")
 	scorecardCmd.Flags().StringP(scorecard.OutputFormatOpt, "o", "human-readable", "Output format for results. Valid values: human-readable, json")
-	scorecardCmd.Flags().Bool(scorecard.VerboseOpt, false, "Enable verbose logging")
 
 	if err := viper.BindPFlags(scorecardCmd.Flags()); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to bind scorecard flags to viper: %v", err)
diff --git a/doc/sdk-cli-reference.md b/doc/sdk-cli-reference.md
index 631c4633d2..bc6189f84d 100644
--- a/doc/sdk-cli-reference.md
+++ b/doc/sdk-cli-reference.md
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ Usage:
   operator-sdk [command]
 ```
 
+### Global Flags
+
+* `--verbose` - enable debug logging
+
 ## build
 
 ### Args
diff --git a/internal/pkg/flags/flags.go b/internal/pkg/flags/flags.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cc374cff85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/flags/flags.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright 2019 The Operator-SDK Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package flags
+
+// global command-line flags
+const (
+	VerboseOpt = "verbose"
+)
diff --git a/internal/pkg/scorecard/scorecard.go b/internal/pkg/scorecard/scorecard.go
index f2a57dfec9..b783d03e2f 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/scorecard/scorecard.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/scorecard/scorecard.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 	olmapiv1alpha1 "github.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager/pkg/api/apis/operators/v1alpha1"
 	olminstall "github.com/operator-framework/operator-lifecycle-manager/pkg/controller/install"
-	logrus "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ const (
 	ProxyImageOpt         = "proxy-image"
 	ProxyPullPolicyOpt    = "proxy-pull-policy"
 	CRDsDirOpt            = "crds-dir"
-	VerboseOpt            = "verbose"
 	OutputFormatOpt       = "output"
 )
 
@@ -283,9 +282,6 @@ func ScorecardTests(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	cmd.SilenceUsage = true
-	if viper.GetBool(VerboseOpt) {
-		log.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
-	}
 	suites, err := runTests()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/internal/util/projutil/exec.go b/internal/util/projutil/exec.go
index d8f6dc3a9a..e01ee12ceb 100644
--- a/internal/util/projutil/exec.go
+++ b/internal/util/projutil/exec.go
@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	homedir "github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 func ExecCmd(cmd *exec.Cmd) error {
 	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	log.Debugf("Running %#v", cmd.Args)
 	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to exec %#v: %v", cmd.Args, err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/util/projutil/project_util.go b/internal/util/projutil/project_util.go
index 80dde4773d..20beb0aeda 100644
--- a/internal/util/projutil/project_util.go
+++ b/internal/util/projutil/project_util.go
@@ -188,9 +188,15 @@ func MustSetGopath(currentGopath string) string {
 
 var flagRe = regexp.MustCompile("(.* )?-v(.* )?")
 
-// IsGoVerbose returns true if GOFLAGS contains "-v". This function is useful
-// when deciding whether to make "go" command output verbose.
-func IsGoVerbose() bool {
+// SetGoVerbose sets GOFLAGS="${GOFLAGS} -v" if GOFLAGS does not
+// already contain "-v" to make "go" command output verbose.
+func SetGoVerbose() error {
 	gf, ok := os.LookupEnv(GoFlagsEnv)
-	return ok && len(gf) != 0 && flagRe.MatchString(gf)
+	if !ok || len(gf) == 0 {
+		return os.Setenv(GoFlagsEnv, "-v")
+	}
+	if !flagRe.MatchString(gf) {
+		return os.Setenv(GoFlagsEnv, gf+" -v")
+	}
+	return nil
 }