Transparency is not expendable in leadership.  Transparency builds credibility which build trust which build influence which makes a leader worth following.  Put differently, transparency is a foundation of credibility which is the foundation of trust which leads to influence and impact. Without influence there is no leadership.

Transparency in leadership is not the quality of allowing light to pass through as physics and dictionary may define it (it could be figuratively), it is the quality of valuing and consistently aiming to achieve openness and truthfulness in relationships through self-disclosure and mutual intimacy. The outcome of consistent openness and honesty builds and promotes trust.  To lead authentically, this is the deep level of behavior that demonstrate transparency.

Transparency or lack of it thereof, in leadership is costly.  It erodes credibility which erodes trust which in turn erodes influence which significantly diminishes the leader’s effectiveness.  When this happens, recovery can be tough and more so in an age and time when no information goes away and information has no boundaries. 

For organizations, the cost is even greater as the company loses brand capital and goodwill externally but even more devastating is the internal destruction from perceived lack of transparency for organization members. 

We have all shuddered as we read the different experiences of some of the people who had been laid off recently following the current layoffs tsunami going on in the tech industry(google, Microsoft, Apple etc.) not to mention the chaotic events of twitter a couple of months ago.  Whether it was the employee who discovered he’d been laid off while feeding his baby (by the way I liked that it was the father of the baby who was feeding the baby at 2 am), or the one on vacation on the beach or the one who discovered by not being able to log into the company account, none of it sounded great. 

Layoffs are part of the corporate landscape and nothing new (ask Gen Xers, baby boomers and generations before). For millennials and post millennials this is big their initiation into the r restructured club and the landscape is different.

Layoff decisions are not easy decisions by any stretch but layoff communication and processes can be better managed to be more transparent and more humane.  It is a leadership responsibility to make that happen. 

All these organizations have multilevel leadership teams which can be effectively deployed to present the decision, the process of decisions, the reasons for decision to the employees in a manner that demonstrates openness, intimacy and honesty. This will not take the pain of disappointment away, it will make each person being laid off a human being and not a number in the statistics. 

Leadership transparency in any organizational endeavor is acutely needed  in current organization context for critical reasons.  First, there is a big shift in leadership perception today how organization participants.  The older generations approached, perceived and interacted with leaders in a completely different manner.

Leaving an organization as a result of value violation is an easy decision for millennials and post millennials and this should be a concern for organization leaders today especially as they focus on the future with the ones who did not get laid off this time.  

Research indicates that inspiring and motivating layoff survivors is challenging because of the anxiety, sense of betrayal and uncertainty that they feel especially where transparency has been questioned.

Find out how we can help your organization and leaders to be more transparent and avoid trust erosion. Connect with me.

Amara Emuwa, PhD

Authentictransformations.net