Why efforts to be transparent often turn out less than crystal clear.
I know a lot of business owners who are trying to be more transparent because they feel that’s the right thing to do. But the idea of “transparency” can be tricky. The way “transparency” appears to you, as a business owner, is not always the way it’s interpreted by your team.
Transparency also works both ways
Business leaders often experience a need for better transparency from their employees. For example, you might feel there’s something going on with a person, but you can’t unlock the door.
Generally, it’s easier to be transparent about the vanilla details of your business. But generic information doesn’t really pull people together.
You won’t get to the destination of great relationships, functionality and health this way; because you’re leaving out the personal side of the relationship.
So, let’s say a business leader comes in and says, “We want to be healthy and functional and have great culture,” but team members don’t give of themselves as people. They leave the human part out because they’re fearful of laying it all on the line.
You have to give people that true feeling that it’s all out on the table — because that’s where real trust develops. Your team members won’t be interpreting your efforts as building a cultural shell game or some kind of bait and switch.
Health check: Ask these questions to build a more energetic, healthier culture:
- What are some healthy, energy-charging ways to start your next leadership team meeting?
- How can you tap into the vitality of your people as unique individuals?
- How can you begin and deepen conversations that bridge the gap between work life and real life happiness?
- How do you get people to talk about their true joys, goals and fears?
- What should you be sharing about yourself?
The hard truth: People don’t want to follow a leader who thinks he or she knows it all
They want to follow someone willing to admit what they don’t know and is selfless enough to figure it out in a way that benefits others first. How will you use your next leadership or staff meeting to start building a healthier culture?
If you’d like to talk about ideas to recharge your culture, get in touch!
