February 2022 - Cameron Herold

A lack of transparency and trust in coworkers, leaders, and the company itself is one of the greatest challenges that modern businesses face. However, transparency is essential to healthy growth for any business in any industry.

Transparency can reduce overhead, build employee confidence and foster a culture of openness and accountability.

Still not convinced? Here’s what makes transparency so important.

Transparency Builds Confidence in Your Employees

In order to move forward on projects and for them to be successful, everyone needs to be on the same page. When you are transparent with employees about things like your vision, budget, goals, and concerns, your team can act with confidence on your behalf. How is your team supposed to be as passionate as you if they’re kept in the dark?

“If your team can’t tell you the truth, you have no chance for long-term success. Zero chance. There is nothing more important than this. As a manager, your job is to make good decisions. Good decisions are impossible to make with bad information.” – Brendan Reid

If you are transparent with your team, they will trust you and be inspired to tell you the truth as well. Trust and honesty are vital to any successful business.

Transparency Builds Stronger Relationships

“You have probably heard that people do not leave the job itself but leave the managers associated with it. Solid relationships with strong foundations are built from being transparent.” – Christopher Salem

Being open and honest is always in everyone’s best interest. Openness creates a sense of loyalty and makes your business stand out as one that employees want to work at. Transparency in your business makes them feel like they can turn to you for support and you, in turn, can rely on them for guidance. It’s a win-win situation!

Transparency in business is how you create stronger relationships between everyone, but especially between you and your employees.

Transparency Builds Trust

Trust seems to be a theme in this blog, but that’s because it’s vital for any business and transparency contributes immensely to it! Strong, trusting ties between management and employees form the foundation of any good business.

“Trust empowers your employees. This sense of empowerment leads to at least 26% higher employee satisfaction, according to a study by Yona Kifer of Tel Aviv University. That sense of empowerment translates into more authenticity and feelings of well-being… ultimately, these feelings lead to much higher engagement in the workplace.” – Hatchbuck

Your employees are your most valuable asset. Trust is the glue that holds your team together. In order to build trust with your team, make sure you’re being honest with them about what is happening in the business, and what they can expect from you. You have to set an example for them as a leader.

“Everyone makes mistakes, so don’t judge them for it. It’s important to create a safe space where employees feel comfortable to come clean when issues arise if you want to encourage responsibility.” – Cameron Herold

Transparency Reduces the Need for Work to be Redone

One of the most powerful benefits of transparency is that it can reduce the need to rework. That saves you money and saves everyone time. Work not having to be redone is something that everyone wants!

“Rework is one of the biggest threats to profitability, not to mention your good name. It puts projects behind schedule, requires the manufacture of new parts, drains budgets and makes companies look bad in front of owners.” – Construction Productivity Blog

No matter the industry, each project phase builds upon the one that preceded it. Transparency ensures that any issues are dealt with promptly before the implementation phase of a project has even begun. This leads to a more streamlined process with fewer hitches along the way. Without transparency, there might still be issues during the implementation phase. Once that occurs, it’s much harder to fix. Transparency ensures that issues are noticed and dealt with at the right time.

While transparency can seem scary at first, being vulnerable and forthright is the best way to set your company and your team up for long-term success.

Trust is the key to all healthy relationships in business and in life. When aiming to build a solid foundation for you and your team, honesty is always the best policy!

Why do you think transparency is important? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Successful leaders know the right strategies to get the most out of their team. They aren’t afraid to be seen as “tough” or strict as long as it means they get the job done right!

Tough love leadership isn’t about being tough or strict excessively without reason, though. Tough love leaders know how and when to be tough on their employees when they know it will benefit the work.

Being a good tough love leader also involves building trust with your team and really getting to know them. It’s also about being reasonably flexible and open to change. Here are some ways you can practice tough love leadership with your team.

Get To Know Your Team Properly

Getting to know your team is one of the most important and vital steps you can take toward being a tough love leader. You need to know things like, “What are their personal career goals in the short term? What do they hope to learn? Where do they need to grow? How much more would they like to take on? How’s life at home?”

“By taking a true interest in each person’s standing (both personally and within the company), your employees will feel more inclined to work toward the goals they laid out, rather than a project you outlined in a team huddle.” – Forbes

Saying something like “I understand that details really matter to you, so I think you’d be better off going over this report again” is far more effective than saying “because I said so”. Knowing your employees well enough to know how to be tough on them in a way that is effective is the only way to be a good tough love leader.

In order to really motivate your team, you have to give them a sense of purpose. That’s because getting your team to stand behind you on projects is rarely about the job itself. It’s about using their personal goals as a type of leverage to motivate them to do their best work.

Set The “What” and “Why” But Be Flexible About The “How”

It’s very important to set clear goals with your team. You can be strict about the “what” and “why” of a task, but don’t necessarily be too strict about the “how.” Why? Because it’s very important to make sure employees have the autonomy to complete tasks on their own and in a way that suits their work style best.

“Make sure you understand and have fully explained, the logic behind a task so that all team members involved have a buy-in to its importance. If they don’t, it will never be completed to the level you desire.” – Forbes

Once they buy into the “what” and accept your “why” logic, let them complete the task as they see fit. When you’re generous with your team and flexible about how they can get something done, they are more likely to work hard to achieve it. You can’t be tough without providing some generosity as well.

Build Trusting Relationships

It’s no surprise the tough love approach requires that you be tough–it’s in the name! However, before you can make demands on your team, it is essential that you build trust with them.

Being tough but flexible builds trust and makes it easier to call employees out when they’ve done something wrong. When you’re understanding of others they’re understanding of you. They will work harder to make you happy. It’s a give-and-take relationship.

Trusting relationships hold up better under the weight of tough love. When your team trusts you, they will find it easier to support your decisions even when they don’t agree with them since they will really believe that it’s for the best. They know you wouldn’t be tough on them without reason.

Be Open To Feedback And Change

Tough love leadership is about bringing out the best in you as well as your team. In this way, you have to be open to feedback and be humble enough to admit when you’re wrong. You can’t be tough on people without admitting that you have faults as well. Everyone can improve, including and especially leaders.

Having open communication will ensure that your team always feels like they can come to you when things aren’t working. Tough love leadership is effective because it makes everyone feel really “seen” while simultaneously pushing them to continuously bring out their best.

“The challenge is to set high demands while still being supportive.” – Inc.com

When you approach your relationships in a tough but loving way, everyone is stronger for it. Your team will be eager to take on more responsibility and help you achieve your vision! Isn’t that what every team wants?

Are you a tough love leader? How do you build trust in your employees? Let us know in the comments below!