Occasionally, I see themes occur amongst my clients. One theme that presents often is transparency. The issue really isn’t transparency itself; it is really solitary and sometimes opaque decision-making. Of course, that leads to trust issues, and not being transparent suggests a lack of trust from the leader toward the employees. If a leader is not transparent then the employees will make assumptions and will fill in the gaps, incorrectly, if they don’t know what is happening. All this 
is a hot bed of dysfunction and low productivity. You want your employees to be in the know, right? Tell them what is going on, and they will build your business.
What can a leader do to become more transparent?
Here are five ways to practice transparency.
- Always tell the truth when an employee asks you something. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the employee will not understand profits & losses or that changing a process may save time and errors. They get change, and they understand plus and minus.
- Bring employees into decision-making. You are not a solopreneur anymore. Bringing them in early, allows for processing time and it also create trust as long as you can use, or at least acknowledge their recommendations. If you cannot, tell them why.
- True transparency requires guts. It also requires getting over yourself and focusing on what’s best for the organization. It’s not about you, the leader; it’s about what is best for the organization. Whatever you need to do to summon your courage, do it.
- Show them your human side, warts and all. Employees will forgive and forget that you may not have all the answers and that you asked for their help. The will never forget that you lied to them.
- Lighten up. If you don’t have compassion for yourself, you won’t have compassion for others. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, own it, and move on. Do not beat yourself up.
Building an empire takes a team. Your team. You made an effort to hire smart, talented and resourceful people, now you must trust them. Practice transparency with that wonderful team and when you do not get it right, say so. You have come this far; keep up the growth.