Transparent leaders
leave nothing hidden; consequently, their clarity results in predictability,
consistency and trust. ~Kathryn Scanland
I'm participating in
a training program in a teleclass format.
Last week, as we were all checking-in on the call with the obligatory, "hello, how are you," someone posed the same question back to the trainer. He paused briefly and then responded with "not so well." He had been working on a
multi-year project that accidentally got deleted. Fortunately, he had a back-up but it didn't
include the previous two weeks of work.
So while the majority of the project could be retrieved, the last two weeks
of work would have to be recreated. He
could have responded with the expected "I’m fine," but chose to simply be
honest and transparent.
I have one very
specific incident that took place well over 15 years ago that will always stand
out in my mind as my ultimate example of just simply being transparent. I had joined a number of friends for
Thanksgiving. I should have taken heed
to what our cook said before we began the meal, it went something like this, "the turkey looks done but the temperature isn't quite what it’s supposed to
be." Well, one by one, we all paid the
price for that temperature not being quite what it was supposed to be. The following Monday when I returned to work
and someone innocently asked "How was your Thanksgiving?" while passing in the
hall, I too paused, and realized I just couldn't put a spin on it or make any
positive statement without it feeling like an outright lie. So I responded with, "not so good." My colleague looked at me with surprise and a
bit of fear, not knowing what he might hear next. Then I simply said, "bad turkey."
I share this example,
which is undoubtedly out of season, because I've often asked myself if the
situation really needs to be that extreme for me to simply be transparent?
On Forbes.com Glenn
Llopis states: "Being transparent is a powerful thing, if you can trust yourself
and be trusted by others. The reason
most leaders are not transparent is because they believe they will be viewed as
less authoritative; that the credentials they worked so hard to attain will
lose their power, leverage and gravitas."
So once we get over
ourselves, and release the idea that our gravitas and leverage will suffer and
begin to believe that being transparent is more effective than being opaque
(the opposite of transparent), powerful things can begin to happen.
If you think about
it, it's even logical. If something is
transparent, it's clear, there's no guessing, there's nothing left to
imaginations, there are no surprises, it feels safe. If it's not transparent then it's
opaque. That means it's solid, dense,
obscure, unclear, etc. If you walked
into a room that was pitch black, would you feel safe? Or, would you feel apprehensive, hesitant,
uncertain? You may begin to let your
imagine shape reality. That density and
obscurity will only make it more difficult for people to follow, so how is that
holding onto power?
Don’t be like
me. Don’t wait for extreme measures to
force you into transparency. Instead, go
there willingly and unabashedly and see what powerful things might happen!