Transparency is a CEO’s superpower, but it must be wielded carefully.
Corporate leadership is rife with buzzwords, and few are as pervasive as transparency.
In an ideal world, transparency is the bedrock upon which trust and accountability are built.
However, in the real world, there are a number of nuances at play.
CEOs often face situations where full transparency might not be appropriate, and understanding when and how to be transparent can be more important than the act of being transparent itself.
Not to mention the numerous challenges in even agreeing on what we mean when we talk about transparency.
One way to define what it means to be transparent is to examine how leaders are actioning the concept within the practical boundaries of their companies.
What transparency entails in corporate leadership can depend as much on the context as the leader implementing it, but there is no doubt that the indexing on transparency can deliver incredible value.
How CEOs Can Turn Transparency Into a Clear Corporate Vision
Mike Lipps, CEO of Medallia, emphasizes that transparency should be more than inspirational words on the wall.
Making transparency work requires concrete actions and a framework that guides them, and for Mike, the concept of “Zero-daylight” is central to establishing actionable transparency across Medallia.
“If you ask six people what your company stands for and get six different answers, that’s a problem,” he explains. To avoid these “speed wobbles,” Medallia’s leadership team uses transparency to maintain alignment.
Mike elaborates on how the team acts upon transparency by having employees at all levels answer core questions for the company, such as, “What is our purpose?” and “What’s the most important thing right now?”
Chris Caren, CEO of Turnitin, shares a similar view, emphasizing that transparency should begin at the level of a company’s vision and objectives.
“Transparency isn’t just about shining on light what is present today. Ideally, transparency begins at the highest level roadmap, showing everyone where we’re headed and why,” he explains.
This approach has helped employees feel a shared sense of purpose, knowing they are working towards a future they understand and support.
Mike Lipps from Medallia agrees, and further underscores that transparency over the company’s purpose is an antidote to a lack of clarity which in turn breeds mistrust.
“By having incredibly transparent foundations, including about why we exist and what we do, our leadership team is able to move forward with the assurance that everyone is on the same page,” Mike added.
Mike also speaks to the need for actioning transparency at the level of performance itself. “In every town hall, we let employees call out their peers for exemplifying our values, and the t-shirts we award to those nominated by their peers have set off a wildfire of positive recognition.
People want to be part of an organization where they know what counts and see it in action every day,” Mike concludes, emphasizing how transparency can manifest in action through something as simple as recognizing and rewarding performance.
Chris Caren from Turnitin sees the importance of transparently communicating objectives and results in a similar manner.
“When we set objectives, we don’t just list them as corporate goals. We make sure everyone knows how their work ties into the larger mission and how their performance maps to it. This makes the future feel tangible and worth working towards,” Chris notes.
Making Metrics Count: How CEOs Foster Accountability Through Transparency
Damon Stafford, CEO of Alpine Intel, is another advocate for putting transparency into actions, particularly when it comes to enabling team members to drive their own performance.
In his view, transparency isn’t achieved by simply sharing information, but by setting up visible markers of progress that everyone can access and understand.
“We have scoreboards, and we’re in sync on every aspect of the business. Every day, everyone can see what’s working and what isn’t, and we expect people to adjust their ways of working accordingly” Damon explains.
Taking transparency, an abstract concept, and actioning it as visibility into performance metrics is a powerful move that fosters a culture where team members are not just aware of the goals but also of their role in meeting them.
Damon emphasizes that engaging in actionable transparency requires a two-way trust: “We feel comfortable in having our book of performance open because we trust that everyone has positive intentions. We should all be able to challenge each other openly when it comes to the core of our business, and creating a culture where transparency is expected, and everyone is trusted, is essential
This approach to metrics and regular check-ins reinforces the idea that transparency is not simply sharing a message.
Instead, when actioned correctly, transparency creates the self-guiding frameworks for accountability that eliminate guesswork and foster a shared sense of responsibility among everyone in the team.
How CEOs Use Transparency to Build Trust and Empower Teams
In his role as CEO of IWG, one of the largest hybrid workspace companies, Mark Dixon has had a front-row seat in witnessing how companies are using technology to build trust through transparency.
“By making work processes and their outputs more transparent through technology, we see our clients finding new ways to enable employees to manage their own productivity without the need for constant oversight,” Mark observes.
He continues to note that hybrid ways of working are here to stay, and that “the old ways of thinking about work, particularly that it doesn’t happen if the manager doesn’t see it, are gone.”
For Mark and IWG’s clients, transparency is as much about allowing employees to see the value of their work as it is about maintaining visibility over performance.
“At IWG, we’re using technology to make sure employees have visibility into the work being done, not just by themselves but across the board,” Mark adds.
When transparency is actioned through the lens of trust and empowerment, the tools involved become promoters of engagement rather than control.
“We’ve all had to redefine transparency in this new world of work, and I see transparency as the foundation on which we build trust, not least by showing employees they’re part of something larger,” he adds.
This trust-based approach shows that transparency is at its best when leaders decide to deploy it to empower employees to own their performance, much in line with what Alpine Intel, Medallia and many of IWG’s have intuited long ago.
The CEO’s Guide to Tactical Transparency: Avoiding Pitfalls
While transparency can foster trust, Dan O’Connell, formerly with Google and Dialpad and now CEO of customer service platform, Front, warns that not all approaches to transparency lead to positive outcomes.
Reflecting on a time earlier in his career, Dan highlights how a failure to combine transparent communications with context and guidance about organizational goals can create serious disconnects, and even anxiety.
“On one hand it is clear that when key strategic decisions are made without explaining the ‘why’ behind them people rightfully feel like they are being kept in the dark,” Dan begins, noting that opacity causes more harm than good, undermining trust within teams.
“However, being transparent without context is like throwing people into the deep end without a life vest,” Dan notes, continuing that “leaders are responsible for making sure that information is not just shared, but filtered, adjusted, digested and tailored to fit the purpose it is intended for.
Dan’s experience suggests that transparency is not just about sharing information but sharing it in a way that is meaningful and contextually appropriate.
At Front, he has applied this lesson by ensuring that employees understand not only what decisions are being made but the reasoning behind them.
This insight underscores an essential truth: transparency must be accompanied by context and an understanding of what the signal is amidst all the noise.
Without it, transparency can lead to confusion and disengagement.
Leaders who prioritize transparency need to make sure that they provide employees with the necessary context to understand the bigger picture.
