Many of us have experienced it before: being in a meeting room and feeling the tension rise as a topic or issue that no one wants to talk about becomes the centre of the conversation. Then, instead of a long, healthy discussion on said topic or issue, many of your colleagues avoid eye contact or put on their poker face.

Similar feelings arise when we have to critique or call out someone’s mistakes — we procasinate or work to avoid confrontation. It’s never pleasant for anyone to tell another person that their work is not meeting standards.

So how do we communicate better in order to lighten the tension in the room, and broach topics that can be uncomfortable to talk about? The answer may seem counterintuitive, but it works: be radically transparent when you communicate.

A lot of people mistake radical transparency as an excuse to insult someone and get away with it, but that’s not the case at all. Radical transparency means having the emotional courage to speak up and address when you feel disrespected or violated, as well as to discuss and solve conflict to avoid having to deal with an even bigger conflict later.

Having Radical Transparency as a Leader

Chip Bergh, CEO of famous clothing company Levi Strauss & Co. (traded privately), revealed through a recent interview with The New York Times about how he practices leadership transparency. He noted a specific experience that made him realize the importance of having radical transparency when he was working at Procter & Gamble as a manager.

The company, Bergh explained, placed a big emphasis for managers to develop the people under their leadership — in fact, how well those people perform is part of the manager’s performance review. While the person Bergh first hired was extremely smart, he was not delivering the best performance. Still, Bergh said he felt pressured to get him promoted, so that’s what he did. Four months later, however, the person Bergh hired and promoted was let go due to performance reasons.

It was a big lesson, Bergh said, and it suck with him for a long time. If someone is not cutting it, you have to tell them how and where they’re not cutting it — both for their improvement and the company’s well-being. Have high standards, and if the employee is really not a good fit, call it, Bergh said.

Curing Toxic Work Environments with Radical Transparency

Besides being good for the company itself, practicing transparency in a workplace can help eliminate the toxicity felt by the office if people are at odds with one another, if the politics of the workplace is overwhelming, and/or if personal egos or cockiness suffocate teamwork. I agree, Bergh says to The Times. Having transparency in a workplace builds trust, Bergh stated. When leading teams, Bergh is always focused on how to work together to get the best result — he has no interest in being in a team where backstabbing or bad-mouthing occurs.

There are people who Bergh trusts that tells him right away if something fishy has gone down behind his back.You have to be clear about your expectations to the members of your team, Bergh said. For Bergh, if you cannot work his team environment respectfully, then you should find another team to be on.

While this may sound like using transparency to leverage power, Bergh argues that it’s the opposite. “You have to look holistically at the people on your team and constantly look for ways to strengthen the team,” he said. “I’ve never regretted moving too fast to let somebody go. I’ve had times when I’ve regretted waiting as long as I did to make a move.”

Team members know exactly what is expected of them and how they are doing in terms of performance when the leader of a team practices radical transparency. Besides giving criticism, however, leaders have to listen to their team and give them a chance to voice their concerns. Some of Bergh’s best employees, as well as the overall company culture at Levi’s, have benefitted from Bergh’s transparent leadership approach.

Bergh tells The Times that when he first arrived at Levi’s, he interviewed the best 60 employees — sending them questions in advance in order to gain a more thorough understanding on the company. The questions included things like, What are the three things you think we have to change? What are the three things that we have to keep? What do you most want me to do? What are you most afraid I might do?

Bergh had scheduled an hour each with the employees — and by the end of the interviews he had a very clear understanding of the company and which values were particular important to the employees.

Summary

In today’s work culture, where freedom is extremely valued, having radical transparency as a leader can help build trust within a work environment. The key of a successful workplace is to have information — no matter good or bad — flowing freely between those in leadership positions and those who are being lead. Expectations on both sides should be mutual, clear, and consistent, and radical transparency helps with that. Once expectations are clearly set, trust is built, and there are no secrets, things that create a toxic workplace — such as confusion, ambiguity, suspicion, and unpleasant surprises — are less likely to happen.

Radical transparency isn’t just for the workplace or a trait only a leader should have — if you consider it closely and practice it in your everyday life, you might find that radical transparency can help with personal relationships too.

Featured Image: Depositphotos/© iakovenko123