The Power of Transparency

I say this a lot – probably too much, if you spend time around me – but it doesn't make it any less true: leaders should do all they can to lower the baseline stress level for their teams.?We can implement tips and tools for helping with that agitated customer or the order that can't seem to go right, but the biggest impact we can have is on reducing that "inherent" stress.

One of the many ways we can do this is by increasing our transparency.?Understandably, we can't be an open book all the time.?There are privacy and strategic concerns.?It is consistent transparency that matters in the long-run.

Transparency is vital.?It protects against perceived threats to certainty, fairness, and status.?Transparency can improve or maintain feelings of psychological safety.?We have 5 times as many neural networks focused on our away response than are focused on our toward response.?Put simply, we have a bias toward the negative.?Transparency can help overcome this bias.

Recently, I goofed in a situation where I could have been more transparent.?I was waiting for the right time to disclose information, missed my window, and the outcome was poorer than I'd hoped. It took more effort to turn things around than it should have, and this incident may have a lasting impact on all parties. Trust may be a bit eroded, there may be more hesitancy, and I may be more eager to share than I should be to prevent this from happening again.

Lesson??Transparency matters. It matters more than the "perfect" timing. It matters more that I'm consistent in my transparency. I need my team to trust that I will tell them what they need to know before it blows up. I don't want them to wonder if I no longer trust them with info or if they can still trust me to watch their backs.

One simple way to work more transparency into your day-to-day interactions is by including a detailed agenda and subject on meeting invitations. Meeting invites from the boss are inherently seen as a threat. Who wants to see a sudden invite to "Meeting – My Office" from their supervisor??I'd start reviewing everything I've done for the past week to try and figure out where I screwed up when it could be as simple as a new project for me or some other good news.?It is doubly threatening when it comes from senior management or HR.

This is not a good invitation.?Not only will Stephanie be unable to prepare for the meeting, but it could also incite some anxiety.?What do I want to meet with her about??Has there been a complaint? Has she dropped the ball on something? Is it bad news??

A more transparent invite could read:

Now Stephanie can prepare for the meeting, and she knows exactly what we will talk about. There is no anxiety.

My mentor and ex-boss used to start every meeting with "The purpose of this meeting is…".?I still say that in my head whenever a meeting starts, and I will start saying it aloud.?It reinforces what was on the meeting invite so the agenda is confirmed and reassures your team that there won't be surprises.?No bait-and-switch meetings, please.

We can discuss other ways to increase transparency, but this is an easy one to implement that can greatly impact your team.