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Managing People
How Transparent Should
You Be with Your Team?
by Martin G. Moore
January 13, 2023

HBR Staff; viviendro/Getty Images

Summary. Transparency is a critical leadership attribute. It helps to build trust,

and it’s a prerequisite for building a constructive, high-performance culture. But it’s
easy for leaders to get into trouble if they don’t understand the nuances of
transparency. When is it critical to... more
When you’re promoted for the first time, you embark on a journey
to leadership excellence, forging a distinctive leadership style that
no one else can replicate. Great leadership comes in many forms,
and discovering how to incorporate your own talent into a unique
leadership fingerprint can be as exciting as it is overwhelming

No matter what leadership identity you develop, one attribute

that’s evident in every great leader is transparency. This
transcends individual differences in style and personality. It’s at
the very heart of high-trust relationships, and it’s a prerequisite
for building a constructive, high-performance culture.

As a new leader, you may think that you should be completely

transparent, demonstrating openness in everything you do. But
that’s not the case: Rather, the key is to look at the merits of each
situation to determine how much transparency is appropriate. It
may be a lot, or it may be a little. Often, it may be none. And to
work this out, you’ll need to weigh many (often competing)
factors.

Let’s look at some scenarios you’re likely to encounter and discuss

how to figure out the level of transparency you should practice in
each.

Transparency in Reporting
Even at the most junior levels of management, you’ll report
information upwards. You get to choose what information you
report, and the tone of the commentary you attach to it.

While it’s important to not waste your boss’s time with irrelevant
information, reporting upwards requires complete transparency.
Too often, leaders choose to cover up, obfuscate, or sugarcoat bad
news, in the hope that things will magically improve. (They rarely
do.)

The key here is to fearlessly report the truth, even when it doesn’t
cast your team in the most favorable light. Giving the leaders
above you the earliest opportunity to take corrective action is
infinitely preferable to keeping them in the dark, which is why I
use the mantra: Bad news by rocket, good news by rickshaw!
The blow of bad news can be softened by delivering it
thoughtfully. Beginning with a neutralizing statement like, “I
thought you should know this as soon as possible” will flag to the
recipient that you’re managing diligently and acting in good faith.
You can further enhance your credibility by ensuring that you’ve
considered the risks and issues deeply enough to propose a
solution. Handled the right way, you can turn a potential negative
into a positive.

Information Transparency
Confidential information should only be shared on a need-to-
know basis. It’s simply not appropriate to be transparent with
everyone about everything. This advice applies to managing up,
sideways, and down.

For example, you may be privy to the personal information of

someone on your team, like their financial struggles or a mental
health condition. This needs to be protected. The information
isn’t yours to share.

When it comes to confidential business information, or

information that’s only being shared within the leadership team,
the same principle applies. In this case, there are many reasons
why sharing is a bad idea.

First, some information isn’t useful without additional context

and sharing it may only cause confusion. Second, some
information isn’t fit-for-purpose, meaning it may lack the
necessary accuracy to be shared publicly at this time. Third, this
kind of information often isn’t relevant to the job someone is
doing — if it becomes relevant in the future, the company will
likely make it public. And finally, if you break the confidence of
other leaders in the company, you’ll be damaging relationships
with people who have sway over your position and career.

A CEO I worked for many years ago gave me some excellent advice
around this topic, which can be applied to any new manager:
Never give people a level of detail that you aren’t happy to
entertain a conversation about. You set the level of the discussion
with the information you present, so don’t invite someone to
engage at a lower level than necessary.

Transparency of Values and Behaviors

The main exception to the rule above is when it comes to
questions of ethics. During my corporate career, I witnessed
countless examples of leaders sweeping incidents of misconduct
under the carpet. This lack of transparency was called damage
control, and it sent a clear message to everyone involved: Better to
cover it up and hope no one finds out than to bear the
consequences of dealing with it transparently. You can imagine
the culture this creates.

I’ve seen too many leaders turn a blind eye to petty fraud,
allowing dreadful practices to become entrenched. In the absence
of strong leadership, this behavior is normalized in the culture.

The nuance for leaders is that every organization has an implicit

level of tolerance for poor behavior, and it takes real courage to
demand a higher standard than the organization is otherwise
willing to enforce. But people who choose to behave badly can’t
claim that they were unaware or poorly trained. They’ve simply
made a choice.

Do you think there would be anywhere near the number of

incidents of bullying or sexual harassment if leaders were strong
enough to investigate complaints independently, and deal with
them transparently?

When it comes to values and behaviors, the best disinfectant is

sunlight. So, shine a light on this wherever you see it. People need
to know that you won’t overlook or ignore questionable conduct
at any level of the organization. For minor ethical issues, it may be
enough to just report it to your boss. But for more serious cases, it
may be appropriate to report to HR, or even to escalate it for legal
consideration.
Transparency in Decision-Making
Disseminating information to people sends a signal that they’re
entitled to provide input. It invites them into the decision-making
process and, if it’s done indiscriminately, can be disastrous for
both the quality and speed of that decision.

Accountability and speed play a big role in good decision-making,

and consulting the right people is essential to arrive at a high-
quality outcome. Limit your consultations to two key groups:
those who have the expertise to contribute meaningfully to the
solution and those who will have to live with the eventual
outcomes.

Many new leaders make the mistake of involving too many people
in the name of inclusiveness. This both slows down the process
down and undermines you as a leader. After endless rounds of
compromise have sucked the life out of the decision-maker, you
end up with the lowest common denominator: a decision that no
one thinks is right, but everyone agrees to live with. You can avoid
this trap.

Personal Transparency
Be cautious when it comes to transparency of your own personal
information. Being open and transparent helps to win the trust of
your team, but more isn’t necessarily better.

It’s important to maintain professional distance. I use the general

rule: Be friendly, not friends. Let’s face it, no one at work should
have to hear the graphic details of your messy breakup. Having
said that, people should know who you are and what you stand
for, which is why it’s so important to know what is and isn’t
appropriate to share. The goal is to win respect, not popularity.

Developing your own internal handbrake is helpful. For example,

before you choose to share something you might ask yourself the
question, “Is this something I would share with the CEO of the
business?”
Two More Things to Consider…
Your Timing
In every scenario, your timing of information is critical.
Remember, just because you know something doesn’t mean you
should share it. Offering transparency too early can be
misleading, and often does more harm than good.

For instance, let’s say you’re planning a team restructure. During

the process, you’ll consider options that will ultimately affect your
people, and it would be inappropriate to divulge any of this until
you have a solid proposal. You may promise to move someone
into a new role with the best of intentions. But you share this with
your team member before gaining approval from HR, you’ll risk
falling back on your word and breaking trust.

Wait until your information is full proof. This isn’t dishonest in

any sense of the word.

Your Judgement
There are always going to be situations that feel murky, when
after everything, you’re still not sure how much information you
should reveal. When this happens, try using the triple filter test.
Socrates is often credited with devising one this go-to frame.

Before telling anyone anything, think about what you’re about to

divulge, and ask yourself:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it kind?
3. Is it useful?

Looking through that lens, a lot of information we share doesn’t

pass the test! What can the person do with this information once
they have it? This can be a useful tool to calibrate your internal
transparency barometer.
 ...
Being a transparent leader isn’t as simple as it might first appear.
As a new manager, you’ll often find yourself tiptoeing through the
minefield that lies between your own values and the cultural
norms of the organization.

In matters of integrity, you need to muster the courage to step up

and do the right thing. But most situations aren’t that
straightforward. Determining how much transparency is
appropriate requires you to exercise your judgment, which you’ll
hone over time.

Are great leaders transparent? Sure… but they also know when not
to be, and they know why.

MM
Martin G. Moore is the founder of Your CEO
Mentor and author of No Bullsh!t Leadership
and host of the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast.
His purpose is to improve the quality of leaders
globally through practical, real world
leadership content. For more information,
please visit, www.martingmoore.com.
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