There’s a lot of current discussion about how important transparent leadership is in developing engaged, motivated workforces. So true! In fact, I’ve read research that shows that frequent, honest communication from the top of organizations can override the damage done by inept supervisors. Pretty amazing when you think about it, huh?

But just because a leader comes off like an open book and can serve up some tasty Kool-Aid doesn’t guarantee he can be trusted. I suggest that transparency is rather easy to accomplish, especially for gifted communicators. Trust, on the other hand, can only be earned through behavior that demonstrates honesty, fairness, unyielding commitment to doing the right thing, and irreproachable accountability.

Indeed, we’ve seen leaders whose eloquence changed the course of history. Adolph Hitler was one of them. So were Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron. Their public personas were powerful, engaging and seemingly transparent; only their greedy inner circles knew the juxtaposition between what they said and what they did. When their evilness was exposed, it left millions in shock and misery, and questioning how they could have trusted such despicable losers.

Let’s face it. We’ve heard elected officials blatantly lie to us. We’ve seen corporations run from their responsibility for human and environmental safety. And we’ve all been in personal or professional situations that made us think twice about who we can trust. Despite all that, for every miscarriage, we can probably cite a counterpoint.

Take the Tylenol tampering case in the 80s. Instead of dodging the issue, Tylenol’s maker, Johnson & Johnson, immediately stepped up to the plate with transparency and action. They backed their public service announcements with responsible solutions, starting with pulling every bottle of product from shelves across the nation. Then, they used the lessons from the tragedy to create tamper-proof packaging that’s become the industry’s standard. Now, nearly 30 years later, Tylenol is still one of the world’s most popular and trusted brands. I wonder if that would be true if J&J had treated the incident as just the isolated work of a lunatic?

Another very recent example involved a horrible error made by a surgeon on infant. The physician not only admitted his culpability, he is now working with the family to ensure ongoing care for the child, which he is funding out of his own pocket. Versus the normal outcome, a mega-lawsuit, the doctor’s remorse, personal accountability and actions were so appreciated by the baby’s parents that they felt they could not further punish him for his mistake.

At a wedding I attended, the minister started the service with a statement about his own life. He said, “My wife and I have been married for 30 years. We’ve lasted this long because she expects certain behavior from me and I oblige.” I believe that’s the essence of trust…responsible, considerate actions that speak much louder than words.

Long and short, I’m all for transparency. I want honest communications - good, bad or indifferent. But throw in consistent behavior that I can respect and trust me, I’m yours.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 7:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.