Avoid the Transparency Trap
The purpose of transparency is to be seen for who you are. It’s awkward when your inner critic berates you. It’s difficult for those seduced by power and authority. It’s impossible when leaders lack self-awareness.
Transparency is noble in concept but tricky in practice.
Challenges and Limitations:
People don’t want to hear everything. In 1976, Jimmy Carter told Playboy, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.”
Don’t explain every insecurity. When it’s useful, share that something keeps you up at night, but don’t spew all the gory details.
Don’t violate confidentiality. Ethical propriety governs transparency.
Candor invites conflict when done poorly. Excessive openness overwhelms. Oversharing confuses.
16 Things You Can Do with Transparency:
Trust & Influence
- Disarm suspicion.
- Multiply influence.
- Build confidence.
- Create psychological safety.
- Model humility.
Relationship & Communication
- Strengthen relationships.
- Improve teamwork.
- Clarify expectations.
- Enhance feedback.
Emotional Impact
- Calm anxiety.
- Reduce drama.
Growth and Learning
- Multiply learning.
- Fuel accountability.
- Open minds.
- Drive engagement.
- Improve decision-making.
4 Ways to Let Yourself be Seen without Oversharing
5 Practices of Transparency:
#1. Reveal aspirations.
Tell people who you aspire to become.
“Ambition is the outcome you want to attain. Aspiration is the person you hope to become.” (Philosopher Agnes Kard)
#2. Share intentions.
Share your heart and explain your goals when you can’t reveal details.
#3. Explain boundaries.
When disclosure isn’t appropriate, say what you can. Explain what you can’t. Avoid partial truths.
#4. Admit mistakes.
Say, “I screwed up,” but never leave it there.
- What are you learning?
- How are you rectifying the issue?
- What will you do differently next time?
#5. Seek input.
Listen to feedback, but don’t let others run your life. Ask for advice. Never imply that you plan to do everything others suggest.
Transparency doesn’t make you weak. It makes you believable.
What makes openness tricky for leaders?
Which idea in this post seems most useful to you?
Resource: Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor
Some people are less transparent as a strategic tool against those they want to lead because being too transparent is a threat to their power. I guess as a “servant leader” reading this … such obfuscation is a rare tool used if at all.
Glad to see you today, Michael. Perhaps being transparent with the idea that you aren’t being fully transparent is a possibility. Some things are personal.
The trap of transparency is the belief that it means sharing every last detail with everyone. Instead, transparency means being honest and upfront about what you are doing. You want folks to trust that you are doing the right thing, even (especially!) when you can’t share the details.
Your opening sentence is awesome. Thanks for consistently sharing your insights.
It was interesting to read that transparency calms anxiety- because I think it calms mine, not necessarily theirs. I use it to build trust and safe space when I coach. However, I have overshared when I can’t get people to open up, and that, I think is from my anxiety that I’m not being an effective coach. That’s when I can tell I’m lost in my own weeds. Thanks Dan, for a clear road map out of my “to share or not to share”.
Thanks Shahrooz. I see what you’re saying. Oversharing can increase anxiety. I know it makes me feel anxious/awkward when someone does it.