Being Real and Transparent
Part Six of “The Intangibles: They Make You or They Break You”
By David Drury
Images are managed to ensure no flaws are seen. Ads are created to lure customers into a
false sense of security. Simple truth is
manipulated. Proper clarity becomes blurred. Fake futures are foretold. Reality characters are cast, story lines
pre-programmed and then it all gets televised.
Fake seems to be in
these days. Apparently you can make a
lot of money selling phony.
But when it comes to leading something more intangible is
desired. People smell phony from a mile
away. They know when you aren’t being
real with them. But when you are real
with people—when you’re transparent with
them—they connect with your leadership at amazing levels.
When you are transparent with people:
There are several different kinds of transparency as a
leader. It may take the form of a
general allusion to your weaknesses. You
may share one particular struggle you’re having with getting something done. You may share how you’ve had problems doing
something like your team needs to do at the present and really need others to
help make it happen. Whatever the case,
sharing something transparent enables you to gain people’s real trust. Transparent is an appropriate word, since it
means “seeing through” to something behind it.
Instead of building a wall between yourself and others you allow them to
see the real you. When a leader “opens
up” a lot of barriers in the team go down—everyone feels less uptight and more
real with their status. Instead of
faking their way through a project everyone gains what Good to Great author Jim Collins calls the “brutal facts of an
organization.”
When you aren’t transparent with people:
When you are not transparent with people those brutal facts eventually
hunt you down and make you fail. A
culture of secrecy and confidence is built by a lack of transparency. You are covering your own tail instead of
looking to the good of the organization.
Instead of alerting others to potential problems in your own area you
first just ignore them, then hope no one notices them, then begin hiding them,
and even going so far as to point out the problems in others so your own
weaknesses aren’t noticed. This may be an
easy win in the short run—others think you’ve got it together and don’t have
problems in your area. But in the long
run this just weakens the whole organization and it’s only a matter of time
before everyone figures out your sham.
Leaders who are never transparent—who act like they have it all together
at all times—are eventually un-trusted and not followed. No one is perfect all the time, and if you
act like you are then the assumption eventually will be that you have a whole
lot to hide. That assumption is probably
correct.
How to become
transparent:
It starts with your peers.
It can be hard to be fully transparent with those above you or who work
for you in an organization. But if you
can become transparent with those at a peer level it opens the door to becoming
a more transparent leader. Chances are
that your peers have similar frustrations or the same problems you have. Perhaps they’ll have solutions—or tips on how
to work around your weaknesses. Other
times they help you realize such problems are just part of the way things
operate—so you’ll feel less threatened by them and defensive about sharing them
with others. Be sure to make these times
of transparency helpful and not just a gripe-fest about your work. Then work on being transparent with those who
work under you on the team. Let them
know that you’re not all you sometimes seem to be. Help them see your weaknesses and coach them
to fill those gaps. Stop being the “all-star
leader” and start being the coach of the team that gets each of them in the
game. The fact that you can’t make some
of the plays they can just makes you a better leader if you can get them to actually
do it. Finally—work on being more
transparent with those above you in an organization. This may seem risky at first—especially if
your leader doesn’t cultivate an environment of openness. However—it pays off when your leader knows
you’re a “straight shooter.” Try not to
be defensive in these situations, and never list off problems others are having
along with your own problems. One of the
best tactics in doing this is to go to the leader for advice. Transparently share where things aren’t as
you hoped them to be, then ask them what advice they’d have to address it. This enlists your leader’s help in tackling
the problem, or perhaps they will even dismiss it as not that big of a deal and
not worth your time to worry about.
After these three steps are taken (transparency with peers first,
subordinates second, an superiors first) you’ll find
yourself becoming comfortable enough to be transparent in meetings and even
when speaking in front of crowds.
How to spot &
reward someone who is transparent with the team:
Spotting someone transparent isn’t that hard. They are the ones that are actually giving
you the brutal facts about their area.
They’re not protective of their turf but instead just tell you what’s up
and how something isn’t going as well as they
hoped. Here are some tips on reacting to
this great development in your team:
- Mirror Transparency – share how you yourself have
had such problems. Share how those kind of things happen.
Let them know a current problem you have that’s troubling you as
well. Let them know this behavior
isn’t going to be punished but is a part of the expected team culture of
transparency.
- Multiply Transparency – if the moment of transparency
happens in a team or meeting setting then harness it for a team dynamic of
transparency. Mirror it yourself
first—then ask others something like, “Well, team, is anyone else having
similar difficulties like we are or having other troubles we ought to be
aware of?”
- Manage Transparency – whatever the problem is,
work with them in the long run to manage around the problem or to solve
it. Don’t just create a culture of
openness that doesn’t actually address problems and merely complains about
them… actually solve the problems with them—or give advice on how to and
check back to see progress.
Finally, remember that this intangible doesn’t show up on a
resume at all. In fact—many people with
amazing resumes are actually the worst at being transparent. They may be in the habit of trying to look
good and they spend their years on the job just trying to live up to their
fabricated reputation. The team I work
on has actually begun asking people about seasons of failure and brokenness
during the interview process—making clear that we actually value that
experience and how people process it afterwards. Those kind of steps
help breed a culture of transparency from the beginning of a hire.
.
Click here
to respond to this article at the response blog.
Or email David@DruryWriting.com
_________
This is part six of The Intangibles. Come back for more on each intangible. Click here
for the introduction to this series.
© 2007 by David Drury
Publishing
information:
To inquire
about publishing this or other copyrighted pieces at this web-site simply
contact David Drury at David@DruryWriting.com. All rights reserved.
David Drury Bio