Transparent Communication Level-Up

Domain: Relationships - Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Many employees hold an assumption that management doesn’t give them the full picture.

That’s because they don’t. And typically for misguided reasons.

There are all sorts of reasons why managers may withhold information. Sure, sometimes it really is confidentiality. More frequently, withholding information serves as a defensive mechanism to guard one's authority and relevance.

Even when you withhold information with good intent, say, to protect your team from feeling overwhelmed…the result can turn counter-productive. High-performing teams thrive on trust and transparency. Being open with non-confidential information keeps your team better informed to make effective decisions.

You can be more transparent with your team without compromising your responsibilities as a leader. This is even true n highly regulated industries or in organizations with top-down communication structures (though some contextual awareness is always helpful). Following my post on some of the foundational strategies, here are some advanced techniques for offering more transparency in your communications…

Admit mistakes

The natural tendency for a lot of leaders is not to be open about mistakes and challenges in order to project strength.

But being open about your missteps is its own form of strength. Your team already knows that you're not perfect. Nobody is 100% mistake free.

By admitting when you've made a mistake, you are being proactive in building trust and psychological safety with your team. It humanizes you. If you acknowledge it first, it's even more powerful.

When leaders are open in this way, the team is more likely to drop their guard and help address the problem.

Say what you don’t know

You are not all knowing. It's inevitable that you won't have always have all the answers in every moment.

And most working professionals have enough social intelligence to see when their manager is bluffing through something they are unsure of. Great leadership is not the ability to deceive. Instead, admit what you don’t know and immediately follow-up with insight into how you plan to obtain the answer.

This can sound as simple as "You know, I don't have the answer to that. But we can make sure we find out".

Say what you can’t say

Managers do have information that they can’t share. When employees ask about these topics, managers will often misdirect or outright lie.

I still remember the first time I heard a leader say “I’m aware of the situation and am working on it, but really can’t discuss it”. My respect, and that of the rest of the team instantly shot-up. There was actual discussion afterwards of how refreshing that was.

Just be cautious how you use statements like this. It loses its effectiveness when saying "I can't talk about it" can actually tip your hand. For instance, if someone asks whether they are going to be fired, and you say "I can't discuss that", it sends a pretty ominous message. These types of statements are best reserved for situations where they convey neutrality or respect for confidentiality.

Skip-level meetings

Being transparent in skip-level meetings is also very effective. Employees can be very guarded in these meetings as they are taking all the risk with how much and what they choose to share. As a leader, there is very little risk for you in these meetings.

You can balance that out by sharing insight with them in return. What challenges do you foresee for the team? What big projects are you working on? What's keeping you awake at night? This offers some reciprocity in the process. This doesn't mean they'll let their guard down immediately, but when they see an initiative unfold that you had personally talked to them about, their trust will strengthen.

Of course, make sure that your direct (their boss) is aware of anything you are sharing. Otherwise, you are sacrificing your relationship with your direct for the sake of others in the organization. I've been in situations where the employee two-levels down let me know that their boss also informed them of a project I had just mentioned. This was great to hear as it was a sign that my directs were practicing the level of transparency that I encouraged.

Get ahead of bad news

Sometimes, the reason we withhold information is that we want to gather the facts before we discuss it with our team. We want to feel prepared to address their questions and concerns.

But the rumor mills at work operate quickly. While you are gathering facts, news is already starting to spread. This comes with risks of disinformation or questions from your team as to why you didn't share the information with them.

Any time you can be the first one to share bad news, it's going to help build trust with your team. It demonstrates transparency if they hear it from you before they hear it from other sources.

You can use this with some of the other guidance here. For instance, as soon as you have bad news that needs to be shared, let them know…but explain that you are in the process of gathering the relevant facts.

Thank you for reading. My hope is always that you've found something helpful and easy to implement. If you have feedback, suggestions or questions, please reply to this email.

If you are interested in exploring one-on-one coaching to transform your leadership, email me at [email protected] and we’ll coordinate a free, one-hour discovery session.

This week’s action items:

1. Admit when you've made mistakes or missteps that effect the team.

2. When you don't have all the information, lead with that.

3. Be transparent when you can't discuss details of a situation.

4. Show some reciprocity in skip-level meetings by sharing your own perspective.

5. Try to be the first one to break bad news to your team.