Transparency

I love transparency. There, that’s it. End of story. Okay, I guess I’ll elaborate. Twist my arm why don’t ya? In this day and age, everyone is trying to sell something. Or at the very least, it really feels like that. They are showing you their best selves on Instagram and trying to sell you on how your life could be. They are showing you their best work or product feature and selling you on buying that thing. The list goes on and on. Sell, sell, sell. What you normally don’t see is everything that has gone into making that a reality. You don’t see the late nights, the stressed out employees, the years of work, or the failures. They aren’t transparent.

Honestly, even this post is trying to sell you something. An idea, in the hopes that you will find it interesting enough to follow my work and eventually support me. I’m writing to clarify the thoughts in my head, but subconsciously, I’m still “selling”.

So how do we promote transparency in business and, ultimately, life? I think we have to encourage it and celebrate it. When content creators show you behind the scenes footage of everything it took to set up some really awesome looking shot, you realize it isn’t easy. You also realize that the “perfect” office setup and backdrop they have for their footage, is only one side of the equation. The other side shows all of the lights, cables, blankets, and more just to make that a reality. That’s filmmaking for sure (creating a great shot), but don’t be disillusioned by how much work that takes to setup. I know I was.

We need to pull back the proverbial curtain and disillusion what it takes to succeed in business. I’m not trying to promote hustle culture here, but I am discouraging this “get rich quick” mantra (yes, even in the era of cryptocurrency millionaires). I’m also not trying to discourage anyone from getting started. The opposite actually. I want everyone to get started so they can discover for themselves how hard it can be sometimes (and there are some things you can only learn by doing). Almost every content creator talks about how behind every “overnight success” is a mountain of effort. The main thing about that effort though is that it is consistent and sustained.

So what if you aren’t interested in starting a business? What if you just really like working for a company as part of a team? How does transparency, or lack thereof, manifest? Well, two ideas come to mind. The first being amongst team members. Being transparent with each other about skill sets and expectations. No one has to know everything, that’s the beauty of being a part of a team, the team has your back (at least a good team will). If you don’t know something, not being transparent and honest about it will only hurt the team as a whole. If you need to take time for family or yourself, that should just be open and clear. People should respect that (and you obviously reciprocate when they need time), but if they don’t, I’d encourage you to find a new team. The second idea is from a leadership perspective, and I think is a more obvious one. Leadership needs to be transparent about the outlook of the business and set clear expectations for what needs to be happen to improve those. No matter what the state of the business is, people need to know all the information they can so they can make the best decision for themselves and their family. Maybe sometimes that’s digging deep and figuring out a new product feature, or a new revenue stream, or even a simple way for the company to save money. And other times, it will be deciding that you need to find a company with more stability (being honest and transparent about what you need as an individual). Either way, the best outcome for all involved starts with transparency.