How transparent is your organization? How transparent are you as a leader? How much transparency do you need versus how much do you want?

Being transparent is a long-term effort and daily work. It requires consistency and steadiness, and it may not always be as easy or straightforward as we would wish: In some circumstances, there will be information that you may not be (legally) allowed to share with colleagues or team members. In others, you may worry about how how people will respond to your level of transparency.

When I wrote my Master thesis many years ago I tackled the subject of “The meaning of rumours in employee communications”, and it was a great topic to do research on. Basically, rumours are the result of intransparency – of information being held back or delivered to only a few. Rumours lead to gossip, to sometimes right assumptions but also often to false or partially incorrect beliefs; they drain energy, concentration – and, most importantly, they cost employee engagement.

Transparency creates trust and kills rumours. Naturally, it is the key demand of employees, and one of the key challenges of managers. It is a great topic to look into this week.

Would you agree?

[Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels]