How To Confidently Lead in Crisis: The 16 Rules

True leadership is put to the test in times of upheaval because it’s easy to lead when things are going well. However, when a crisis hits, there’s no order or certainty of how things will unfold, and you need to stay calm and keep things operating normally. How should you respond unwaveringly in a crisis as a leader?

You lead in crisis by acknowledging it and being transparent about it to all the relevant stakeholders. Though you may have little information, acknowledging what you know and what you don’t know creates trust. After this, you must communicate the response plan and act urgently to restore order.

Leading in a crisis requires you to flip the leadership playbook. This article explores what you need to know when managing your team in a crisis and uncertainty.

Does Your Business Need a Crisis Management Plan? Find Out!

1. Acknowledge the Crisis and Inform the Stakeholders

When you know so little about something, it can be challenging to bring it out to the stakeholders. After all, you don’t have all the answers to reassure them you’re in control of the situation.

This is why most leaders push the problem into a corner or disappear when a crisis surfaces. However, in an age where information moves so fast, this creates more harm than good and can escalate suspicion and loss of trust.

A crisis requires transparency, and it’s vital to inform your employees of what you’re facing and tell them what you know about the situation and what you don’t know. Being honest and open gives people psychological safety.

Leadership in Routine and Crisis: What’s the Difference?

2. Communicate the Response Plan

A lack of answers doesn’t guarantee inaction. You must act urgently to contain the crisis and safeguard your business and your employee’s safety.

The best time to prepare for a crisis is before it occurs. If you have a crisis management plan covering the one you’re experiencing, now’s the time to refer to the document and communicate the proactive actions you need to take.

A crisis response plan communicates the following details:

The team leader and all personnel who’ll be involved in the crisis management.
The actions required to manage the crisis and how they should follow each other.
The duties and responsibilities of the individuals involved in the crisis management process.
The resources needed to manage the crisis.

Having a response plan eliminates confusion because everyone knows what to do. It also promotes efficiency while taking urgent actions.

Will Crisis Management Skills Actually Save Your Business?

3. Uphold the Core Values

Your priorities when handling a crisis should align with the business’s core values. Sadly, most managers succumb to the pressure and forget what their brand stands for. The aftermath? A tainted brand image for failing to uphold the values people appreciate about the company.

From the onset of the crisis, your team should know what matters most to the business. For instance, if you have differentiated your business by offering the best customer experience, don’t let go of that in times of crisis. Staying aligned with the core values in good and bad times inspires loyalty and a positive brand image.

4. Encourage Self-Leadership

A crisis requires urgency. And if your subordinates have to wait for your orders, delays will derail your response plan. Instead of using a phased approach, encourage your team to make decisions independently. However, you must be clear about what is acceptable and unacceptable to keep them aligned with the critical objectives.

Doing so relieves you of some duties to help you focus on the overall welfare of the business. Also, allowing your juniors to make decisions encourages autonomy, giving them a sense of purpose. This increases job satisfaction, and they might be unwilling to seek other work, even during hard times.

5. Create a Communication Channel

A communication plan is invaluable when managing a crisis. As the management team learns more details about the crisis, they need accurate information to reach the employees on time to avoid mistakes.

On the other hand, as employees activate the response plan, they’ll need to consult and inform the leading team of the progress. External stakeholders, such as customers, will also seek updates.

To ensure a timely and accurate flow of information, you should:

Choose a communication head or a spokesperson.
Create multiple communication channels, such as e-mail, Whatsapp, text messages, and Facebook.
Have a message template to avoid errors when communicating.

6. Give Clear Orders

The last thing you want when managing a crisis is for your juniors to make assumptions about what you mean. Though they might be intuitive to execute orders in the business’s best interests, they might not know what you mean if you communicate ambiguously.

Before your staff implements your instructions, you should give them room to ask for clarification. Or ask them to explain what you expect of them because this will also help to give them an alternate course of action if the first option isn’t viable.

Where possible, giving examples or illustrations would make your order clearer, especially if they’ve never performed the task before.

If you want to master crisis leadership, you must first understand the Tasks, Roles & Experiences.

7. Listen to Your Employees

Employees always do the groundwork of executing the leader’s orders during a crisis. They get first-hand experience with what is working and what is not. Listening to their feedback helps you gain insights into how your business can cope better and how you can support them better.

When you incorporate your employees’ feedback into your response plan, they feel involved and motivated to find a solution that will bring stability to the business. This also bridges the gap between the business’s goals and your employees’ expectations.

The different ways of collecting employees’ feedback during a crisis include the following:

Q&A: The internet has made things easier, and you can request your employees to take an open-ended or close-ended Q&A online. Ensure the questions relate to aspects that affect them directly.
Surveys: They can help you get unbiased data from employees about your crisis response strategy. You can conduct surveys through chatbots, e-mail, or mobile apps.
Direct engagement: You can create platforms to interact with your employees directly, such as Whatsapp groups or Slack.

8. Put the Welfare of Your Team First

Your employees are the key drivers of success. When a crisis occurs, they’ll deal with the pressure, stress, and increased workload, which can cause burnout. Unfortunately, the managing team tends to focus more on keeping the business intact and sometimes forget about their employees.

Doing so sends a message to the employees that you don’t care about them, which can lead to a loss of morale. Instead, you should practice empathy and keep your employees’ emotional and physical health before profit. But you should strike a balance to prevent people from perceiving your compassion as a weakness.

9. Be Present

When you’re present and accessible, people will be more proactive because they know you’re watching. Amidst your busy schedule, aim to have regular meetings with your team. The meetings could be physical or online, with an agenda to show your people that you acknowledge their efforts.

It also provides a platform to give updates on how far you have progressed in managing the crisis. During such meetings, you should remain positive and encourage your team to share their thoughts.

10. Stay Up-to-Date With Information

You typically learn more details about a crisis as it unfolds. And as the leader, you should be the first to know to help you make the best decisions for the business.

If the crisis affects the industry, you should create social media, news websites, and blog alerts to receive real-time information. You should also follow industry leaders and experts on social media and subscribe to their newsletters. This way, you’ll be among the first to know of any new development in your industry.

However, before acting on any information, verify it’s from a credible source to avoid misinformation that can disrupt your business.

5 Strategies For Leading Remote Teams During Crisis!

11. Lead by Example

Leading by example reflects more on your actions than your word. During a crisis, your team looks to you for direction. If you do what you tell your employees to do, they’ll be motivated to do it because your words are consistent with your actions.

To set the pace for your employees, be decisive and remain calm under pressure. And most importantly, stay positive. No one wants to hear a leader whining and complaining. Positivity breeds confidence, which your team will need more than ever during a crisis.

Leading by example has the following benefits:

It shows your integrity and ethics as a leader: People are more likely to trust someone who’s honest and ethical in their actions.
It builds trust and credibility: People trust and believe in you when your actions align with your words. They’ll respect you and have the will to follow you.
It helps you nurture self-leadership in your team: You won’t have to follow up on your employees because they’ll have the self-drive and confidence to do what you expect of them.

12. Be Flexible and Adaptable

One unique characteristic of a crisis is volatility. Things will change quickly, and you’ll need to be flexible to adjust fast. You might need to shift your priorities or change your approach altogether, so don’t get attached to any one idea or plan. Be ready to let go of what’s not working.

Things may not remain as they were after the crisis, and you must be ready to adapt to the new norm. For example, many businesses had to adapt to remote work during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Those that could not adapt remained closed and, as a result, suffered an irrecoverable loss of revenue.

13. Expect Mistakes

Mistakes will inevitably happen due to rushed decisions. The focus should not be dwelling on them but learning from them and moving on. Remember, you’ll have limited time, and playing blame games will only slow you down and waste time.

However, you should not tolerate repeat mistakes. Once a mistake happens for the first time, it should be a learning lesson. If someone continues making the same mistakes, they’re not contributing to solving the problem, and you’ll need to take appropriate disciplinary action or reassign their roles to someone else.

14. Take Care of Your Mental Health

Most leaders find it hard to model healthy mental behaviors during a crisis. They want to restore order so badly that they forego their well-being for the sake of the business. Though you may not realize it, this affects how you make decisions, and it also makes you irritable and withdrawn.

Displaying these signs makes your team unwilling to interact with you, which can adversely affect the business. When managing a crisis, your mental health comes first. Take regular mental breaks, get plenty of sleep and rest, or find a therapist.

15. Foster Teamwork and Collaboration

Teamwork and collaboration during a crisis involve individuals and departments depending on each other in decision-making to minimize mistakes. When done properly, it enables the leading team to gather expertise from diverse backgrounds to evaluate the crisis from different angles.

It also facilitates the lines of communication and coordination, making it possible to restore normalcy sooner.

Efficient teamwork happens across the organization and not within departments or units. As the leader, you’ll have to lay an organizational hierarchy or a task force that interconnects the entire company. This requires you to share power with department heads who’ll work closely to ensure each business unit is in tandem with one another.

16. Rely on Trusted Advisors

Although you’re in charge of the long-term sustainability of the business, it doesn’t mean you know everything. And you’ll be more prone to making misinformed decisions during a crisis because you don’t know much about the situation. However, having people who can critique your choices and give unbiased opinions can help.

As a leader, you should be open and receptive to your advisor’s perspectives and be accountable to them. A team of two to three trusted advisors, knowledgeable and experienced in different fields, would serve you best.

Some qualities to look out for when choosing an advisor include:

Availability: Your advisors should be easily accessible to minimize time wastage when making an urgent decision.
Corporate experience: People who have been leading in the industry for more than ten years have garnered wisdom to help you make the right choices during a crisis.
Trustworthiness: Your advisors should be people who can protect the confidentiality of your business. They’ll have access to your business’s secrets and should protect them from third parties.

Final Thoughts

A crisis demands more from your leadership skills because you cannot control how it unfolds. How you react can mend or break the business. Remember to:

Value your communication channels and stay current with information.
Use your core value as the guide.
Put your people’s welfare before profits.
Be flexible to accommodate unexpected changes in your response plan.

What New Small Team Leaders Should Do in Their First 90 Days!

Have you taken over a small team? Perhaps you’ve read the book The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins and want to avoid the pitfalls of your first 90 days as a leader.

What new small team leaders should do in their first 90 days includes focusing on relationships with their team, implementing small changes a little at a time, and taking note of what they want to change later. New leaders must avoid removing their coworkers’ stability and implementing radical changes.

In this article, I draw from interviews and polls with 19 team leaders, my experience as a military leader for 13 years, and the most stable scientific data I can find to give you a detailed and actionable outline of which obstacles you need to avoid. I then contrast this with the book The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins, in which you might notice a big discrepancy.

Leaders Aren’t Always Successful Because They Don’t Act Fast

Being a new leader, with or without formal training, is often scary. So many new leaders screw up their first months as leaders and struggle for years to regain the trust of their colleagues.

We like to think the “be nice to the new guy” rule applies. However, to be honest, if you’re in a situation where people expect you to lead them to performance, nobody really cares if you are new or not.

You need to deliver and do it fast to avoid the biggest mistakes.

Racing is won by being faster than the competition. But if you hit every bump in the way while being fast, sooner or later, you’ll break the car and crash, which is guaranteed to get you nowhere. The key is to avoid the biggest mistakes.

Many people believe you need to make everything right as a new leader, but this is the wrong way to look at it. There are too many problems with this type of perspective. So what is the right way?

First Day: Don’t Remove Your New Coworkers’ Stability

You may have had a new boss come in, and after a month, they have already changed so many things that you can’t keep up. According to the respondents of our study, only one thing is worse: making all those changes on the first day.

As a new leader, you should focus all your efforts on getting to know your colleagues and giving them a great impression of you as a manager in the first days of your new role. You must avoid implementing changes and setting up your personal workspace.

A new leader’s biggest mistake during the first day is trying to implement change rather than getting to know their colleagues.

In other words, all you need to do on your first day is not be a douche. I see this type of leadership behavior quite often, as it’s often a by-product of new leaders wanting to make things better and being unable to stop their enthusiasm.

The consequence of being too “aggressive” and implementing new ideas in your new role is that people will start worrying about their part in this new world. Humans like the status quo more than the uncertainty of the future.

Consider the expression “the devil you know…” This emphasizes that we would rather live with a known pain than take the chance of lesser but unknown suffering.

But a much more long-term effective and healthy way of spending your first day as a leader is to “be an explorer.” An explorer isn’t telling the map what it should look like. Instead, they go into nature to understand where the valleys are and what dangerous animals exist.

An explorer tries to see the world as it is, listening rather than talking, carefully examining, and going around large rocks rather than forcefully trying to push them out of their way.

The adventurer or leader who chooses to listen, watch, and understand quickly creates a highly detailed map of their surroundings that significantly benefits them when it is later time to make navigational decisions.

On the first day of the job as a new leader, we must be explorers building our map so that we set ourselves up for success when it’s time to make tough decisions. Decisions can now be made from intelligence instead of guesswork.

If this feels overwhelming, why not schedule a time to talk with me about this?

First Week: Focus on Social Relationships With Your Team

While the first day is mainly about creating a positive impression, according to our respondents, the following week should focus on avoiding the two major mistakes.

Your first week as a new leader must focus on social relationships with your team and management, which speeds up the trust-building process. Experts say time spent on logistics is wasted, and implementing change is too soon and will most likely fail.

The first mistake new leaders make is implementing change too soon. In the above study, 84% of the respondents indicated that implementing changes during the first week of being a new leader is a big mistake.

Making big changes before fully understanding the situation is called taking a chance. In some situations, rolling the dice is useful, but since the first few changes you will implement will set the tone for your leadership, these are important to get correct.

Choosing what route to take before you have sufficiently discovered the map will surely set you on a sub-optimal and maybe even dangerous path.

The second big mistake new leaders make in their first week in office is spending too much time on logistics, such as figuring out their desk setup and organizing themselves. Seventy percent said this is wasted time that should be focused on building social relationships and understanding the “social map” of the workplace instead.

Time spent on logistics and practicalities is the time taken away from your core task, getting in sync with your team and the organization. This shows the team that practicalities are more important than humans, whether you are right or wrong.

You don’t want to give your team this feeling if you wish for them to follow with loyalty.

I once had a new boss tell me that he didn’t care about us as individuals, but rather we were a part of the big system, and as long as we were valuable to the system, we were also valuable to him.

You guessed it, he never fully gained our trust and loyalty; why would we?

In our study, 70% said social relations are the most important and that understanding the organization is the second-highest priority.

To start building a loyal following right from the first week of work, you need to focus on social relationships, showing the team and the workplace that you have both the organization and the people in mind when making decisions.

And what is the best way to show someone you care? Listening.

Active Listening is actually so important that I would recommend you practice it. You can book a call with me here when you want to make your team feel understood and listened to.

It’s worth trying to determine what drives the organization and the underlying values most seemingly adhere to. Read the official policy documents, and see if you can gain deep insights into the company’s mechanics.

All of this is meant to build a map of the company so you can start making great decisions.

Here are nine actionable instructions you should follow during your first week as manager so you can set yourself up for long-term success without having to waste years building trust.

First 30 Days: Implement Small Changes

Now that we have spent our first week 100% focused on social relations and, to some extent, understanding the organization, we should shift our attention slightly. According to most experienced leaders in our study (90%), implementing change is still the biggest mistake you can make during the first 90 days of being a new leader.

The first 30 days of being a new leader should be spent cultivating a deeper connection with your team, implementing small changes, and bettering your understanding of the organization.

You must avoid executing big changes until the company is mature.

It’s clear that the organization and its people aren’t fully ready for you to make the big changes you can’t wait to do. This is due to issues of trust, which take months or years to gain but can be earned much faster.

It’s also because you most likely haven’t understood the company well enough to make good decisions.

Although social relationships are still important and are rated the second highest priority in our study, understanding the organization is even more important during this stage.

Implement small changes, watch for results and reactions carefully, and learn as much as possible, as this acts as a good feedback loop, ensuring that you can make more significant decisions later on. By doing this, you’ll eventually reach your desired outcomes.

Days 30-90: Develop Your Team Further

“Continue to understand and evaluate the organization and your team members and look at what changes can be done to improve it.“

Day 30 -90 of being a new leader is where things become interesting and where the opinions of experts start to differ. Implementing big change is still considered too early in the game for most experienced leaders (60%) and will expose the new leader to a loss of trust and credibility.

Focusing on the workplace’s physical and logistical setup is still considered to add the least value.

Instead, days 30-90 should be spent developing the team further and focusing on social relationships. (70% said social relations are still the highest priority.) This is the time to look at the organization holistically.

One response said the following:

“Establish routines. Start to see the organization as a system and identify how resources can be optimized. See how you can further support the team. Figure out the logic in how things are organized and function.”

Start seeing how humans interact with machines, rules, and culture, and take notes of changes you might want to implement later. You may want to write down hypotheses you try to falsify before you later put them into action.

An example might be, “Splitting up X team and rearranging them will reduce conflict and improve performance.” You’ll then try to find ways where this hypothesis breaks down (falsify). Maybe after getting to know the team, you’ll realize that rearrangement would actually create more conflict, not less.

Ensure that you don’t try to confirm your hypothesis since this is almost always possible and doesn’t tell you whether or not you are on to a good idea, which is also called confirmation bias.

Falsifying your hypothesis before implementing it will keep you away from screwing up your first big decisions with the team.

Further Tips To Help You During Your First 90 Days

Logistics, such as your own physical work environment, is lowest on the list of priorities, mainly because of the little to no impact it has on the people you are about to lead.

This is not to say that a well-organized desk is wrong, but if you have to choose, you should turn your attention to people and organization rather than your own needs.

None of the participants in this study clearly defined when it is time to go all out with the big decisions, but clearly, it isn’t in the first 90 days. That begs the question, when is the company ready for you to fully step into a leadership role and implement the changes you know will benefit employees as well as the bottom line?

To get the answer to that question, why not contact me for a free call to see how I can help you?

Conclusion

The experience of other leaders tells us that the focus should be on building relationships and understanding the organization during your first 90 days as a leader. This builds your map of the organization, allowing you to make better decisions when the time is right.

It also gives you enough leadership capital to make big changes.

It’s worth noting that the book The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels differentiates vastly from what the respondents in our study said was important.

Good luck, and enjoy the ride; being a leader is the best job there is!

Why Leadership Can’t Be Highly Effective Without Ethics!

Some say that ethics is absolutely necessary for establishing a successful business, while others see ethics merely as an optional bonus in one’s leadership style. The great thing about ethics is it provides you with set standards on how to approach various business scenarios, and without it, you run the risk of impairing your team and damaging your business. This is why good morals and values, as well as honorable principles, must be at the forefront of your leadership.

A leader cannot be entirely effective without ethics since it is a set of guiding principles by which the team conducts business. It’s how a leader earns the team’s trust and respect, encouraging them to imbibe the same values. It’s also a great way to establish a strong reputation for the business.

Stick around to find out what ethical leadership is all about, its pros and cons, as well as the reasons why it is essential for a leader to be truly effective in managing a team. You will also come across some tips on how to constructively establish a strict code of ethics to define the values and principles your team and your business stand for.

What Happens When a Leader Is Not Ethical

The word “ethics” comes from the Greek word “ethos,” defined as a “way of living.” It reflects on how people behave in a society — in how we conduct ourselves, interact with each other, and account for our way of thinking. Ethics is what defines for us what is fair and unfair or morally good and bad. Simply put, being ethical is knowing the difference between what’s right and wrong — and always choosing to go down the honorable path.

In the workplace, ethics is applied in the way we go about various business functions. Bear in mind that it is not as simple as always doing what’s right or just. It’s not always a simple case of choosing to do what’s socially acceptable.

Rather, ethics is also about how we do things, guided by good principles and the right values. Ethics provides us with a compass and a map to steer us in making the most honorable and beneficial decisions for the business.

We hear stories every day of both leaders and employees exhibiting unethical behavior in the workplace. Some of them are entirely aware of their actions, while others aren’t even conscious that they’re misbehaving at all.

Here are some examples of unethical behavior in the workplace:

Making decisions based on personal interests alone.
Not owning up to mistakes and allowing others to suffer the consequences.
Wasting company time (e.g., frequent tardiness, making calls for a personal business, taking long, unnecessary breaks, checking your social media accounts while on the job)
Conflicts of interest
Not being transparent about the business’s true state of affairs (presumably to keep employees in the dark, trick them into staying, or enticing them to do what you want)
Abusive conduct (e.g., racism, gender-based mistreatment, using foul language)
Favoritism
Corruption (e.g., bribery and misuse of influence)
Theft (this includes taking home an expensive piece of office equipment, a whole ream of bond papers, or even just a small box of staple wires, and falsifying expense reports)
Fraud (e.g., tampering with official documents, altering financial statements, manipulating customer feedback)

Consequences of Unethical Leadership

When a leader is not ethical, their thoughts and actions reverberate throughout the team and are translated into how the organization operates. The repercussions of unethical leadership include:

Losses

There is much to lose when there is a lack (or absence) of ethics in the way a leader is managing the team. Losses can come in different forms, whether financial, severed business ties, or with regard to lost opportunities.

For instance, a 2012 Global Fraud Study by Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) states that in the 1,388 cases of occupational fraud they studied from nearly 100 countries around the globe, ⅓ constituted corruption, resulting in a median loss of about $250,000.

On the other hand, theft, which made up the bulk of the fraud cases with a whopping 86%, resulted in a median loss of about $120,000. Deception, which constituted only less than 8% of the cases, resulted in massive losses of about $1 million.

Low Employee Morale

Unethical leadership can make employees feel demotivated in the workplace. Job satisfaction will inadvertently be affected, causing employees to start looking for other opportunities where they can feel happier and fulfilled about their job. When your employees no longer feel excited about going to work, you will soon notice your turnover rate rising, along with expenses relating to training and hiring new workers.

Furthermore, with low morale in the workplace, efficiency and collaboration are significantly affected, in turn influencing a dip in team productivity.

Legal Problems

Unethical conduct can get you in trouble with the law and may significantly disrupt your business operations. It can get you and your business enmeshed in legal issues, dilemmas that are completely avoidable yet extremely taxing to get out of.

Having to focus time and effort on getting out of such sticky situations will undoubtedly take time away from efficiently operating the business. Moreover, money will unquestionably be involved when engaging in legal battles, and company finances will certainly be involved, effectively taking away from potential earnings and profits.

Bad Corporate Image

Your business will be judged based on how leaders and employees conduct themselves in business. Building a positive image will be extremely challenging if the people within the organization conduct themselves in unethical ways.

For instance, if an employee of a car company interacts with a potential client in such a way that it soon becomes evident that they are only after making a quick sale — any sale — even if the client’s needs and wants aren’t properly addressed, the client will soon feel antagonized and pressured. They will probably decide to move on to another car brand, forever branding the company as unethical and unprofessional.

Why Do Ethics Matter in Effective Leadership?

Ethics matter in effective leadership because it is one of the driving forces that pushes a team harmoniously forward toward common objectives. It defines what the team and the organization stand for. By clearly establishing the ethical standards you want your team to live by, you’re essentially conveying to the world what your business is all about.

The Advantages of Ethical Leadership

Fosters Trust

When leading a team, trust must be established both internally and externally. As a leader, your guiding principles can help you build a strong reputation and will guide you in becoming the best version of yourself — your personal identity.

It is also essential that you and your team members trust and respect each other so that the team functions like a well-oiled machine. This can be accomplished by adopting a strict behavioral standard to which everyone is expected to adhere.

On the other hand, trust is also necessary when dealing with the outside world — your customers, potential clients, business partners, and even your competitors. Your ethical leadership will mold and define the kind of reputation your business will be known for.

Helps Build a Solid Reputation for the Business

In the example above relating to the car salesperson, ethics plays a significant role in how the employee should have handled the customer. Questions that should’ve been explored include:

“Am I addressing the customer’s and his family’s needs for a vehicle?”

“The customer has some wrong impressions about the car he’s interested in. Should I correct him even if it means I might lose the sale?”

“Should I highlight the competitor’s flaws so that my brand emerges on top?”

The right answers to these questions would have undoubtedly built a solid reputation for the business, especially if the client felt satisfied with how professionally and fairly the salesperson handled the most problematic and awkward issues. The salesperson’s words and actions would have reflected on the company and placed it in a more positive light.

Improves Business Profitability

Businesses with a shady code of ethics may suffer from dissolved business partnerships. Other companies, especially those that uphold high ethical and moral standards, prefer building ties with equally reputable and dependable organizations.

Your business may also experience a reduction in company stock prices, especially when your unethical and unscrupulous conduct becomes highly apparent in the industry. People generally shy away from organizations they deem unworthy of trust and respect because this typically means the company is unstable.

Furthermore, you might start noticing a decline in client base and customer loyalty. People are typically hesitant in rendering support to organizations they perceive to be unprofessional, unprincipled, and fraudulent.

How To Embrace Ethical Leadership

Conducting yourself honorably and ensuring that your outlook and behavior resonate strongly among your team members is a great way to encourage them to adopt the same standards. It’s all about being consistent, intentional, and mindful of your thoughts and actions and how they directly affect the people around you.

Here are some tips:

Clearly Define Right from Wrong

Clearly define which behaviors are acceptable and which are not, then commit to sticking to the right path in whatever situation you’re in. Some organizations establish a Code of Ethics so leaders and employees have a clear and strong guide on how to go about their various functions in the organization. This is a great way to ensure that your employees know exactly how to conduct themselves and what the repercussions are in case of misbehavior.

Apply the Golden Rule

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The Golden Rule is certainly something we should strive to adhere to, and being in the business setting is no exception. Essentially, it is about treating others the way you would want them to treat you. Conversely, you also shouldn’t treat others in ways you wouldn’t want to be treated.

Be a Leader of Integrity

Ethical leaders know that honesty, transparency, and accountability are excellent tools in their thrust to influence their team in adhering to the same guiding principles and standards of conduct. By ensuring that these values and a strong level of integrity thrive in the workplace, leaders can establish a strong sense of camaraderie, collaboration, and sense of unity within the team.

At Sancus Leadership, we know the value of transparency, especially in decision-making processes for the business. Inviting your team to join you in these endeavors not only creates trust and teamwork — it also ensures that ethics are engraved deep in the team’s core since each member will be involved in laying out plans of action for the business.

Be a Good Role Model

Strive to establish ethics as a way of life, not just a set of guidelines you consciously try to adhere to. The philosophies of ethics must be deeply ingrained in your being that it eventually comes naturally to you. One way of doing this is by always demonstrating it through your thoughts, words, and actions.

By practicing what you preach, you become a good role model your employees can trust and want to emulate.

Keep Abreast of Changing Norms

Ethical norms are evolving, constantly adjusting to the ever-changing times. What was once acceptable and honorable behavior may now be deemed inappropriate and insensitive.

A friend shared a situation her cousin encountered in a well-known pharmaceutical company. This particular organization has been around for decades and has carved quite a strong reputation for itself in the industry. It’s known for its top-of-the-line products and esteemed executives, most of them doctors, renowned for their professionalism and extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of the business.

When her cousin joined the organization, he was caught off-guard by the evidently traditional way they conducted business. One aspect particularly stood out — their apparent lack of consideration for gender equality.

The head honchos of the firm valued male employees over females, especially when it came to promotions, apparently basing their decisions solely on flawed, gender-based assumptions. They argued that male workers are more reliable and can focus more on the job since they do not have to be distracted by family and household issues.

Needless to say, many other socially tone-deaf issues arose during his short stint with the company. My friend’s cousin finally decided to leave when he realized he cannot work with a company whose values, morals, and ethical standards are not aligned with his. He figured this is also the reason why there is a high employee turnover rate in the organization.

This pharmaceutical company might have avoided losing valuable assets if only they had been keener in keeping abreast of changing norms.

Final Thoughts

Leaders cannot be effective without ethics because it is a set of guiding principles that establishes them as someone worthy of trust, respect, and deference. When a leader is unethical, team morale will be adversely affected, giving rise to inefficiency, poor productivity, and high employee turnover. Unethical leadership also endangers the organization by establishing a bad reputation.

Ethical leadership is all about knowing what’s right from wrong, and committing to always choosing the fair, just, and righteous path. It’s a surefire way to earn your team’s loyalty, secure a solid reputation for your business, and acquire a loyal client base.

How Transparent Should Leader’s Decision-Making Be?

Do you sometimes feel you’re doing a tricky balancing act between transparency and discreetness in your decision-making? If you’re too transparent, your team might see you as a vulnerable, weak leader, but if you’re not transparent enough, they’re bound to see you as an adversary rather than an ally. This is why finding the right level of leadership transparency is crucial to effectively managing a team.

To find the perfect level of transparency in your decision-making as a leader, you must be clear about goals, divulge issues faced, and encourage feedback. However, maintain authority by honoring commitments and balancing professionalism and fellowship.

Read on to find out more about striking an outstanding balance between transparency and discreetness and how this can help establish you as a respectable, engaging leader worthy of your team’s trust and respect. We will uncover the signs that indicate a possible flaw in your strategies, and we will also talk about what you can expect to happen if you don’t act on rectifying erratic transparency today. Let’s start!

5 Signs That Your Transparency as a Leader Is Erratic

It’s easy to fall prey to erratic transparency, especially regarding decision-making. Traditionally, this task was set aside solely for team leaders. Employees had no say in whatever choices leaders made for the team, which was completely acceptable.

However, these days, employees appreciate working with relatable, honest, and engaging leaders. They value inclusivity in the workplace, where they make up an integral part of various aspects of business management and operations, including decision-making. After all, the team’s interests are at stake, and it is fair that they become more actively involved.

It takes consistency and a solid resolve to make transparency work. Here are some signs to watch out for that may indicate that you need to amp up (or down) your game:

Your team repeatedly confirms with you. Nothing breaks trust faster than broken promises. If you have a habit of nonchalantly dishonoring commitments or not pushing forward with what you say, your team will need to constantly validate even the most minor details to ensure that you’re still on the same page.
The team isn’t aligned. Any mission will fail if not everyone on the team is in sync with each other. If your team members have differing goals, the lack of synergy and efficiency will take a toll on productivity.
You have no idea what your team is thinking. Influential leaders know what their team thinks or feels about various aspects of the business. If you find yourself groping in the dark for their insights, it might be a sign that they’re not provided with adequate opportunities to air out their thoughts.
A lack of autonomy in your team members. Does your team turn to you before making practically any move? Do you get frustrated with their seeming lack of independence and innovation? It might be a sign that you’re a helicopter leader who has unwittingly trained the team to leave all decision-making processes to their leader.
You feel uncomfortable with the lack of deference from some team members. If you feel like some of your employees are beginning to act too buddy-buddy toward you, take it as a sign that you’ve encouraged familiarity within the team a little too excessively.

Consequences of Erratic Transparency in Leadership

A friend told me a story of her colleague, Sara, who attended a week-long conference. During one of the breaks, when everyone gathered around the buffet table to enjoy some snacks, Sara overheard a group of people snickering. Being the curious cat she is, she sidled closer to the group for some good ol’ eavesdropping.

Sara was taken aback when she realized they were talking about her good friend, Steve — they were his team members. She has known Steve since the early days of her career in insurance and investments, and she knew him to be an engaging, nurturing team leader. Unfortunately, unlike Sara, Steve’s team didn’t think he was such a great guy.

They talked about his weakness when making decisions since he always has to ask for other people’s ideas before making any move. They laughed about how he would call for weekly breakfast meetings and indulge them in sumptuous treats so that he could elicit their views on specific issues in the workplace.

Instead of being appreciative of their leader’s efforts in promoting a positive, transparent culture in the workplace, they saw it as a leadership weakness, which they have been taking advantage of. Sara was shocked when one of the guys in the group talked about how he manipulates Steve into making decisions beneficial only to him.

This is an unfortunate yet relatively common scenario in today’s business settings where modern employees favor working with collaborative, engaging teams. Innovative leaders must know how to balance transparency and discreetness perfectly. Otherwise, they might end up like Steve, whose efforts drastically backfired.

Here are some of the consequences of erratic transparency in leadership:

Too much transparency
- Loss of respect for the leader
- Employee frustration due to the leader’s apparent indecision
- Loss of team unity
- Furtherance of selfish ploys
- Employee manipulation

Inadequate transparency
- Poor employee engagement
- Decrease in team efficiency
- Low employee morale
- Poor sense of ownership
- Dip in productivity

Benefits of Fostering Transparent Leadership

“Two heads are better than one.”

This maxim rings true in the business setting, especially in the decision-making process, where input from several individuals will most likely influence a better-informed, more well-rounded choice. Inclusivity, honesty, and transparency when plotting the business’ trajectory will all come in handy to boost the probability that the best choices will be made.

Inclusivity, honesty, and transparency when plotting the business’ trajectory will all come in handy to boost the probability that the best choices will be made.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of incorporating transparency in your brand of leadership:

Faster and More Creative Problem-Solving

When more people are working together toward a common objective, chances are progress will be swifter since there will be more ideas brought to the table. These opinions and viewpoints will undoubtedly be unique, and there’s a high likelihood that you won’t come across these if you were working on coming up with solutions by yourself.

Higher Engagement

Involving your team members in the decision-making process tells them that you trust them and see them as allies in the organization. Recognizing their ideas and viewpoints encourages them to be more invested in their work. This leads to empowered employees eager to cultivate their strengths, function efficiently in their roles, and happily stay with the team.

Fresh Perspectives

Studies suggest about 95% of leaders believe they’re self-aware. This leads them to think that they can only make sound decisions independently, even when the outcome impacts many people around them. .

However, in reality, only about 15% of leaders genuinely are. When solely taking on the decision-making task, they unknowingly miss out on cultural, technical, or experiential viewpoints that may influence better-informed choices.

Inviting others, especially their team members, into the process allows new angles to surface. This helps address certain blind spots that practically every person has and allows for more inclusive choices where the welfare of the majority of the team will be properly considered.

Boost in Productivity

All the aspects mentioned above contribute to establishing a vibrant team, eager to work synergistically toward common objectives. Among others, transparency is one of the key factors in ensuring that the team functions as efficiently as possible. When transparency is apparent in the work culture and relationships are authentic, people feel more driven to collaborate and significantly contribute to the team.

Benefits of Fostering Transparent Leadership	Description
Faster and More Creative Problem-Solving	When more people are working together toward a common objective, chances are progress will be swifter since there will be more ideas brought to the table.
Higher Engagement	Involving your team members in the decision-making process tells them that you trust them and see them as allies in the organization.
Fresh Perspectives	Inviting others, especially their team members, into the process allows new angles to surface.
Boost in Productivity	When transparency is apparent in the work culture and relationships are authentic, people feel more driven to collaborate and significantly contribute to the team.

Ways To Make Transparent Leadership Work for You

Many people associate being a leader with someone entirely resolute, imposing, and infallible, solely responsible for steering the team in the right direction. Adopting this mindset can be disastrous for the business, not to mention highly taxing for any leader. Nowadays, leadership has evolved into a more engaging role where the main goal is to efficiently lead the way toward growth, stability, and success.

Leadership has evolved into a more engaging role where the main goal is to efficiently lead the way toward growth, stability, and success.

Here are some tips to help you find that perfect level of transparency that your team needs to thrive and succeed:

Clearly Define Goals and Expectations

Openly discuss the future you envision for your business so your team members can see where they fit in the bigger picture. This strong sense of belonging and unity will foster authentic relationships and significantly boost your employee retention rate.

Be clear about what you expect from your employees as well. Define the whats, whens, hows, and whys clearly so that you and your team are always on the same page. This practice also helps eliminate doubts, misunderstandings, and false assumptions, all hindering smooth-sailing progress for the team.

Be Honest About Obstacles and Challenges

Be honest and realistic when dealing with your team members by letting them in on the organization’s challenges. Keeping them in the dark about these unfavorable scenarios will only fuel their doubts in your leadership when the time comes that they come face to face with these obstacles.

Sharing these crucial bits of information sends the message that you view them as valuable allies and assets to the team. This also encourages them to take on more active roles in helping to eliminate problems by striving to develop the best solutions with you.

Encourage Conflict

Some leaders assume that whatever suits the majority is the best alternative for the team when it comes to making decisions. However, this flawed conjecture will only give rise to superficial, uninspired choices that may not even holistically address issues that need proper attention.

When you invite your team members into decision-making, please encourage them to frame potential glitches, poke holes into proposed solutions, and dive into in-depth assessments. This allows the team to come up with the most well-rounded solutions.

Don’t Cross Boundaries

Transparency in leadership is a tricky subject. Is it really about being completely open and honest with your team so you establish trust sooner and promote an engaging, collaborative vibe in the workplace? But won’t this somehow diminish your authority, especially since you’ll essentially be exposing yourself as a completely empathetic, approachable, and cooperative leader?

Draw a clear line between your professional and personal lives. Too much information sharing can make you lose control of your team. Exposing too much of your vulnerabilities may damage your reputation and diminish your stature as their leader.

Keep Your Promises

Being a transparent leader means you make it a point always to honor your commitments. Sometimes, this can be quite challenging, but you can quickly lose your team’s trust and respect if you have a wishy-washy attitude. When you say something, mean it, and stick to your word so your team knows what to expect from you.

Being a transparent leader means you make it a point to always honor your commitments.

Ways to make transparent leadership work for you	Description
Clearly define goals and expectations	Openly discuss the future you envision for your business so your team members can see where they fit in the bigger picture.
Be honest about obstacles and challenges	Be honest and realistic when dealing with your team members by letting them in on the organization’s challenges.
Encourage conflict	When you invite your team members into decision-making, please encourage them to frame potential glitches, poke holes into proposed solutions, and dive into in-depth assessments.
Don’t cross boundaries	Draw a clear line between your professional and personal lives. Too much information sharing can make you lose control of your team.
Keep your promises	Being a transparent leader means you make it a point always to honor your commitments.

How to make transparency in leadership work for you

In this video, Leadership expert Simon Sinek reveals the great misunderstanding about what transparency means.

What does transparency mean in business?

Final Thoughts

Transparency is critical in establishing a healthy level of trust and respect within the team. At Sancus Leadership, we believe in empowering employees to be more invested and engaged in the business, not just mere followers who deliver what’s expected of them. With transparency, you can be assured that you and your team are always in sync and pushing toward the same goals.

Inviting your team into the decision-making process improves the quality of alternatives available since more people equates to more viewpoints, skills, and experiences at the table. Strike a balance between the extremes of transparency and discreetness so you maintain your status as the leader.

Is Transparency in Decision-Making Worth the Cost?

Are you hesitating about increasing transparency in your decision-making process simply because it involves too many risks? Perils are involved, but the danger is that you inadvertently deprive your team of the opportunity to thrive and achieve their full potential. This is why you must encourage a collaborative culture in the workplace where honesty and transparency are at the forefront.

Transparency in decision-making is worth the cost since the benefits you reap are manifold and highly promotive of a more stable, successful company. It’s a great way to retain the best people and attract top-quality workers to join your team. It’s also a tool to boost efficiency and productivity.

This article looks at the risks involved in incorporating transparency in the workplace and why these risks are worth taking simply because the consequences of non-transparency are highly detrimental to business productivity and stability. The benefits of an open, honest culture will be highlighted, along with some tips on seamlessly transitioning to a more engaging, inclusive, and collaborative team. Let’s begin.

Risks Involved in Transparent Decision-Making

Employees look to their leaders for directives on where the team is headed.

Many leaders hesitate about transparent leadership, particularly concerning decision-making, because it exposes them to various risks. Some find it easier not to challenge the status quo — a team structure where employees look to their leaders for directives on where the team is headed and how each member should contribute to help it get there.

Many leaders hesitate about transparent leadership, particularly concerning decision-making, because it exposes them to various risks.

The cost of incorporating transparency in the workplace that most leaders are worried about includes:

Losing a firm hold on the team. Some leaders equate managing a team to complete control of practically all business operations. When you practice transparency, you risk losing control over how the team functions and how goals are achieved.
Bandwagon effect. Involving a team of diverse individuals in decision-making will give rise to various opinions and ideas. The danger here is that the group might favor the popular alternative rather than the most fitting one.
Conflicts. Energetic arguments and heated discussions are inevitable when you engage individuals from different backgrounds, armed with varied skill sets, and possess distinct personalities in transparent decision-making.

Is It Worth the Risks? The 6 Consequences of Non-Transparency

Non-transparency can be highly detrimental to your business in the long run.

By all appearances, this simple, traditional structure seems efficient and rational. However, the consequences can be highly detrimental to your business in the long run, especially in today’s modern era, where more and more employees thrive in an open, engaging work environment.

Here are some of the repercussions of a non-transparent work culture:

The grapevine will thrive. Employees will resort to speculating and gossiping among themselves when there is a glaring lack of information in the workplace. This leads to false information, inaccurate conjectures, and unhealthy relationships within the team.
Team dishonesty. Employees will need to conceal information, especially their mistakes, due to fear of their weaknesses being exposed or a lack of trust in their leaders.
Micromanaging. Leaders tend to micromanage their team when there is a lack of transparency and feel the need to control practically every aspect of the business entirely. According to a survey, 68% of workers who have worked with micromanaging leaders experienced a significant decrease in their morale, while 55% noted a dip in their productivity.
Low employee morale. Employees who don’t feel trusted, valued, and appreciated start feeling dissatisfied about work. This makes them disengage from the team, bringing about reduced levels of productivity.
High employee turnover. When your team members feel unhappy and dissatisfied about their jobs, they will start looking for greener pastures. A high turnover rate disrupts business operations and entails extra costs concerning hiring and training new people.
Misdirection. Employees must be fully aware of team goals and are likelier to stray away and eventually disengage entirely from the team. Transparency is a great tool to ensure all employees’ efforts align with the company’s goals.

8 Benefits of Transparency in Decision-Making

Incorporate transparency in your leadership style to enhance your team’s productivity.

Suppose you want to enhance your business’s communication, collaboration, employee morale, and productivity. In that case, one way to do so will guarantee almost instant results — by incorporating transparency in your leadership style, particularly in the decision-making process. Employees will immediately sense changes in the work environment and will undoubtedly respond positively to your efforts.

Here are some of the benefits you can look forward to by simply encouraging a more open, transparent vibe at work:

Blindspots are addressed. The varying perspectives of unique individuals can result in conflicts within the team. Still, if you are proficient in managing these scenarios, you’ll end up with alternatives you probably would never be able to come up with if you had decided to do things all by yourself.
Smoother implementation. There will be minimal to no resistance when implementing the alternative chosen by the team. After all, they were actively involved in the decision-making process. This also results in a more substantial commitment to the plan until the goal is sufficiently achieved.
Stronger ownership. Your employees will feel highly accountable for the decisions the team arrives at. They’ve weighed both pros and cons and are aware of the risks and consequences they’re faced with.
High employee engagement. Your team members will feel more inspired to contribute to the team when they see that you consider them your allies in business and not just your followers. According to a survey, 71% of workers perceive employee engagement as one of the determinants of a business’s success.
Higher employee morale. Employee morale soars when they feel seen, heard, and valued.
Boosted productivity. When employees know exactly where the business is, where it’s headed, and how they fit into the picture, they are driven to excel. This is also a common reaction when they aren’t blind-sided by the abrupt implementation of decisions made solely by their leader.
Higher employee retention rate. Employees want to work with leaders who see their worth and push them to achieve their full potential. If you keep your team members happy in their work, they will find no reason to leave the company. High employee retention rates also equate to higher engagement and productivity.
Enhanced corporate appeal. Word gets around fast, and when the industry knows how rewarding it is to be part of your team, you’ll soon see a long line of top-quality, highly skilled workers eager to contribute to your business’ success.

Benefits of a more open, transparent vibe at work	Description
Blindspots are addressed	This increased sharing of information helps to illuminate those blindspots that might otherwise hinder effective decision-making and collaboration.
Smoother implementation	This clarity helps prevent misunderstandings and reduces the chances of misaligned efforts that can lead to delays or errors during implementation.
Stronger ownership	This clarity empowers them to take greater ownership of their tasks and projects. They are more likely to view their work as meaningful and impactful, driving them to invest their time and effort more wholeheartedly.
High employee engagement	When employees are kept informed about company strategies, goals, and changes, they are more likely to feel included and respected.
Higher employee morale	With a clear understanding of goals, expectations, and project details, employees can direct their efforts more efficiently toward achieving desired outcomes.
Boosted productivity	With a clear understanding of goals, expectations, and project details, employees can direct their efforts more efficiently towards achieving desired outcomes.
Higher employee retention rate	A transparent and open work culture contributes to higher employee retention rates by fostering trust, managing expectations, and promoting a sense of empowerment and value.
Enhanced corporate appeal	When a company is forthcoming about its practices, products, and services, it establishes a reputation for reliability and credibility.

Benefits of a more open, transparent vibe at work

4 Ways To Ensure Gainful Transparency in Decision-Making

How to ensure gainful transparency in decision-making

With all the benefits associated with workplace transparency, it’s unsurprising that more and more businesses are adopting this type of company culture. We at Sancus Leadership believe in empowering employees to strive for excellence continuously.

With all the benefits associated with workplace transparency, it’s unsurprising that more and more businesses are adopting this type of company culture.

Book a call with us now to find out how to achieve peak employee satisfaction through workplace transparency!

Simon Sinek, in this interview, talks about why transparency is critical to creating trust in an organization.

What does transparency mean in business?

Here are some tips to help you get a headstart on leveraging transparency to achieve optimal results for your business:

1. Brainstorm with Your Team

Encourage your employees to engage in healthy debate so they can break down the details of each alternative they come up with. Their varying backgrounds, skills, experiences, and perspectives will all come into play, so your team comes up with various options.

Make a list of pros and cons for each alternative and properly scrutinize each point. This strategy is one of the best ways to eliminate unsuitable solutions and highlight those that provide the best opportunities for the business.

2. Delegate Tasks

Inviting your team to a discussion is not enough to ultimately develop the best alternatives for specific issues in the company. It would also be great if you could increase their involvement by spreading tasks based on their unique strengths and competencies.

For instance, if a team member is exceptionally adept at researching, think about assigning that person to head a small team that gathers information on specific topics relevant to the decisions that need to be made.

If a team member is skilled in the arts, consider utilizing their talents in visual representations of ideas presented to help make essential details more unambiguous and relatable to the rest of the team.

If there’s someone you perceive to be great at handling finances, why not allocate a specific budget and trust them to wisely spend organizational funds without seeking your approval for each purchase?

Delegating tasks will show your employees that you trust and value the unique skills and acquired experiences they bring to the table. The added responsibilities will boost their self-confidence, empowering them to always strive for excellence.

3. Ensure Inclusivity

Ensure that each team member gets a fair share of time under the spotlight. Remember, they come from different backgrounds and are equipped with diverse skills and experiences that can help broaden your perspectives on various subjects. Ensure each opinion is heard, suggestions are considered, and all viewpoints are recognized. This way, your employees will feel that you respect and value them.

When everyone has a voice in the team, employees feel empowered and inspired to step out of their comfort zone constantly. They will want to expand their horizons, work toward their true potential, and push themselves to always exceed themselves, performing better and better with each opportunity.

4. Utilize Tools

Modern technology equips us with handy tools to help enhance transparency in the workplace. You can utilize these to make information more accessible to your team. These are also great avenues for them to reach out to you in a faster, more convenient way.

Here are some options to consider

Cloverpop (partner with Sancus Leadership)
Slack
Kudos
Monday.com (what we use for project management)
ClickUp
Asana

Tips to get a head start on leveraging transparency

Key Takeaways

Transparency in decision-making may seem daunting to some leaders, particularly those who favor the traditional, tried-and-true structure where practically all directives come from them. Sharing the reins with team members may seem unnerving to some.
However, incorporating transparency in your leadership is just what your company needs, especially now when there’s strong evidence that the best employees appreciate being heard, valued, and engaged in critical business operations. Inclusivity in the decision-making process will make your employees more invested in the business, inspiring them to aim for excellence in their work continually.

How To Ensure a Perfect Transparent Decision-Making Process!

Do you shy away from transparent decision-making, thinking it might slow you down or unnecessarily expose your weaknesses? Mind you, this mindset can quickly backfire since it puts you in a position where you may feel you’re almost indefatigable and solely responsible for the team’s progress — a feat not even the best and the brightest leaders in the world can carry through. It places the team’s stability, well-being, and efficiency at risk.

Transparency in decision-making is a great way to ensure that your business interests are always prioritized. Ensure transparency by adopting an open, inclusive culture where everyone’s skills, experiences, and input are always valued. Be a team player, as well as an effective leader.

Read on if you’re interested in promoting transparency in the workplace and see value in establishing it in your decision-making processes. We will talk about the signs you must watch out for that indicate probable flaws in your communication strategies and the consequences the business might suffer if these issues aren’t nipped in the bud. Then, we will discuss simple yet effective ways to ensure transparency in your team.

4 Signs That You Don’t Apply Transparency in Decision-Making

Non-transparency causes other workers to gossip and be confused about sudden changes.

“When did the policy change?” “Why did they change the policy?”

“I had no idea we had to do this!”

Are statements such as these something you frequently overhear in the workplace? Do these take you entirely by surprise because you’ve always believed you practice transparency in your leadership, particularly in your decision-making processes? Some leaders might even feel affronted or shocked by such sentiments because they think they’ve always been open to their team.

Unawareness that you don’t practice transparency in decision-making can have disastrous consequences. This issue must be promptly addressed before it blows up in your face.

Unawareness that you don’t practice transparency in decision-making can have disastrous consequences.

A friend told me a story about Beth, a colleague of hers who led a small team in the pharmaceutical sales industry. Beth prided herself on her capability and initiative to maintain transparency in practically all aspects of her team. She has made it her main thrust in her leadership brand, projecting herself as an approachable, relatable leader.

Beth was jarred into reality one morning when, during a meeting with a prospective client, two of her team members started discussing a discounting scheme she had previously decided to discontinue. She did all she could to salvage the situation, but they confused the client and created doubts in his mind about their sincerity. They eventually lost the sale.

Upon confronting her employees about the supposed error, Beth learned they weren’t aware that the scheme was discontinued. This prompted her to call an emergency meeting with her entire team, and that’s when she uncovered a lot of miscommunications and confusion.

While some team members were aware of the discontinuation, others needed clarification on its effectiveness date. Moreover, several of her employees were required to be more aware of the new policy, thinking it was still in the process of approval.

Beth was utterly shocked by her discovery, especially since she was sure she had always been transparent with her team. It all boiled down to one issue — she failed to see the signs that her tactics were ineffective. Looking back, she realized there were indications of confusion, uncertainty, and frustration within her team — she just failed to acknowledge and act on them.

Here are some signs that Beth may have inadvertently ignored and that you might want to be on the lookout for to help you determine whether you’re effectively applying transparency in your decision-making process as a leader:

Passive-Aggressive Behavior

You might mistake passive-aggressiveness in a team member as a sign that they’re merely disinterested, going through a rough patch, or that it’s simply their personality type. However, this behavior is worth taking a closer look at because it may indicate that your team member is confused, unsure, or dissatisfied about certain aspects of the workplace.

You might find some team members agreeing with you publicly, but later on, you see them doing exactly the opposite of what was agreed upon. Some people resort to this behavior because they might feel frustrated that they don’t have opportunities to speak their minds or are dissatisfied with your leadership.

Ulterior Motives

Teamwork should always be apparent in the workplace. Some employees may need help digesting new information and adapting to new policies. Still, if you notice some of their teammates attempting to take advantage of the situation, that’s a red flag.

Teamwork should always be apparent in the workplace.

Some team members might exploit their colleagues’ lack of comprehension and confusion to gain unfair traction in the organization. When you’re ineffective in dispersing crucial information, some people might take advantage by projecting themselves in a more positive light by bringing their teammates down rather than assisting and collaborating with them.

Instead of helping their teammates better understand various aspects of the team, they would watch them falter and fail so they would appear more proficient than they genuinely are. As a leader, this can get very frustrating because you expect your team members to work synergistically toward common objectives.

Strained Connections

When leading a team, you aim to earn your team members’ trust, respect, and accolades, and one way of doing this is through honesty and transparency.

However, as their leader, you also need to set yourself apart. You must acknowledge and leverage your authority to lead your employees toward common goals while keeping the team united, synergistic, and productive. The famous saying, “We’re all in this together,” must resonate within your team.

If you sense your employees’ “us vs. you” attitude, maybe it’s time to rethink your methodologies, especially concerning transparency. Your attempts at being open and forthright are being taken in a negative light.

Strained connections in the workplace are never healthy. Your team should see you as someone they can trust, respect, and emulate. You must be able to make them feel that they’re in good hands. Your team members should feel they can safely approach you anytime they have concerns about their job, the workplace, or anything regarding the team and the organization.

Misalignment

Your communication skills may seem adequate for some of your team members, but if you notice a handful of them straying away from the set objectives, take it as a sign that your team needs more transparency.

Establishing common goals — and staying committed to them — is crucial to the progress and success of your team. Everyone must be aligned with these goals, and all efforts, decisions, and plans must adhere to their attainment. If some team members exhibit signs of misdirection, it’s highly possible that they’re unclear about the direction the team is going, and you need to address this issue quickly before things go out of control.

3 Effects of a Non-Transparent Decision-Making Process

People tend to point fingers at others when something goes wrong to avoid liability.

The lack of transparency, particularly in decision-making, can adversely affect your business. Effectively managing a team means you have to quickly identify these signs so you can make the necessary adjustments in your management style.

Here are some of the adverse effects of a non-transparent decision-making process:

Ineffective Decision-Making

Leading a team requires you to make decisions that are always in the best interest of the organization and your team. If you do not practice transparency, there’s a higher probability that your choices are ill-informed and not aligned with the team’s sentiments.

To address these promptly, you must be in tune with your team’s needs, wants, and expectations. After all, your employees are the main driving forces in the organization and most likely have first-hand knowledge and experience in the nitty-gritty of business operations.

Lack of Accountability

People not fully invested in the business tend to point fingers the minute something goes wrong. With a lack of transparency, it would be more challenging to hold people accountable for their actions and make them feel more responsible for their words. A team that refuses to be held liable for their vital roles in the organization can quickly pull the business down.

If you’re transparent with your team and include them in the decision-making process, you choose with them rather than for them. This changes the game significantly because it allows you to foster accountability in your team members by making them more mindful and intentional with their work.

Poor Employee Retention

Good employee retention is crucial to a business’s development, stability, and success. It helps ensure the organization functions seamlessly and synergistically with as few disruptions as possible.

A high employee turnover rate has numerous adverse effects on a business. Here are some of them:

Workflow disruption
Poor employee productivity
Low morale
Low levels of trust
Missed growth opportunities (especially from recurring and new business opportunities handled by a specific employee)
Unrealized investments (both for potential clients and the time and effort invested in enhancing an employee’s skills and experiences)
Disrupted customer services (some clients may be loyal to your employees, not to your company)
Additional recruitment expenses
Training expenses
Turnover expenses
Loss of valuable business information (an employee leaving your team will bring with them all the knowledge and skills they learned, along with the clientele profile they’ve accumulated throughout their career)

Effects of a Non-Transparent Decision-Making Process	Description
Ineffective Decision-Making	Team members might feel excluded or undervalued, eroding trust and collaboration. Ambiguity about the decision-making process can also hinder the understanding of objectives, causing confusion and misalignment.
Lack of Accountability	This can lead to a diffusion of responsibility, where no one feels directly answerable for the outcomes. As a consequence, there is a diminished sense of ownership and commitment to the decisions made.
Poor Employee Retention	When employees feel excluded from the decision-making process and are unaware of the rationale behind key choices, they may experience frustration, disengagement, and a sense of being undervalued. This can lead to decreased job satisfaction and a higher likelihood of seeking opportunities elsewhere, ultimately contributing to a higher turnover rate.

3 Effects of a Non-Transparent Decision-Making Process

3 Ways To Ensure Transparency in Decision-Making

Practice openness, honesty, and inclusivity in managing and communicating with your team.

The need for more transparency in decision-making creates problems that can be avoided by merely practicing openness, honesty, discretion, and inclusivity in managing and communicating with your team. Finding the perfect balance is tricky, but by being consistent and deliberate, you’ll soon be reaping the benefits.

Here are some ways you can ensure transparency in your decision-making process:

Adopt an Effective Standard of Communication

A transparent and inclusive standard of communication must be observed within your organization. Ensure that your team members know and understand how they fit into the organization’s thrust and how vital their roles are in attaining growth and success for the team.

Here are some tips:

Consider your team’s diversity. Tailor-fit your approach based on each individual’s personality type. Your communication style should not have a one-size-fits-all approach.
Connect powerfully with your team members. Deliver the right messages only to the appropriate people involved. Transparency isn’t about sharing all information with everyone on your team.
Avoid oversharing. Sharing too much irrelevant information leads to misunderstandings, false assumptions, and confusion.

Communicating effectively with your team helps make practicing transparency in your decision-making process much more manageable. It helps make each team member feel valued, involved, and relevant. This can significantly improve team morale, engagement, and productivity.

Respect Your Team

As the saying goes, “Respect begets respect.” One surefire way for you to earn the respect of your team is by consistently showing them respect yourself. Although you occupy a crucial position in the organization, offer your team members that you recognize and value their unique competencies and experiences.

Encourage transparency by actively listening to your team. When you come to them for insights on solving a particular problem, ensure you are eager to learn and hear their input. Showing up with the solution already established in your mind will be apparent in how you act and speak, and they will quickly catch on. Ensure you hear all perspectives by encouraging those hesitant about speaking up.

Encourage transparency by actively listening to your team.

This way, all voices are heard, enabling you to establish inclusivity in leading and managing your team firmly. You can accomplish this through engaging and collaborative team meetings, one-on-one discussions, surveys, and polls. This is also a great way to encourage employees to be more intentional and embrace accountability for their decisions and actions.

Provide Regular Updates

Remember my friend Beth’s story? One key factor in her failure to ensure transparency in her team is her oversight in providing feedback and updates on the status of the discontinued discounting scheme. If only she had clearly stated that the discontinuation was formally finalized, none of her team members would have assumed that it was still in effect, avoiding that embarrassing fiasco with a potential client.

Provide regular updates to your team — verbally or in written form — to keep them abreast of what’s happening in the organization. This way, you prevent misunderstandings and confusion, especially if you ensure you deliver your messages as concisely as possible.

Happy, engaged, and motivated employees love their jobs more, prompting them to stay longer in the organization. Increased employee tenure within your team is a significant factor in improving productivity.

Increased employee tenure within your team is a significant factor in improving productivity.

3 Ways To Ensure Transparency in Decision-Making

How To Implement Transparency in Your Organization

Make speedy, better, and reliable decisions with your team.

Sancus Leadership has teamed up with Cloverpop.com to help you navigate the most critical decisions you must make as a leader. You can always go right with our expert guidance, owing to our long history of developing speedy, reliable, and transparent decision-making processes for our clients.

Book a leadership session with us to learn how we can help you make better, faster decisions with your team!

Here’s a video discussing the importance of transparency in leadership and tips on how to achieve it.

The importance of transparency in the workplace

Key Takeaways

A common cause of dissatisfaction in the workplace is the lack of transparency, particularly in the decision-making process. Employees are frequently subjected to changes in regulations and strategies without even a short consultation on their opinions, sentiments, and suggestions. This results in ineffective solutions to problems, a lack of accountability, and higher employee turnover.

Transparency in decision-making can significantly affect how you can find the best solutions for your company’s most pressing concerns. By focusing on what information to share and who to share it with and considering the perspectives of as many people as possible, you’ll encourage collaboration, commitment, and productivity.

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1. Acknowledge the Crisis and Inform the Stakeholders

2. Communicate the Response Plan

3. Uphold the Core Values

4. Encourage Self-Leadership

5. Create a Communication Channel

6. Give Clear Orders

7. Listen to Your Employees

8. Put the Welfare of Your Team First

9. Be Present

10. Stay Up-to-Date With Information

11. Lead by Example

12. Be Flexible and Adaptable

13. Expect Mistakes

14. Take Care of Your Mental Health

15. Foster Teamwork and Collaboration

16. Rely on Trusted Advisors

Final Thoughts

Leaders Aren’t Always Successful Because They Don’t Act Fast

First Day: Don’t Remove Your New Coworkers’ Stability

First Week: Focus on Social Relationships With Your Team

First 30 Days: Implement Small Changes

Days 30-90: Develop Your Team Further

Further Tips To Help You During Your First 90 Days

Conclusion

What Happens When a Leader Is Not Ethical

Consequences of Unethical Leadership

Losses

Low Employee Morale

Legal Problems

Bad Corporate Image

Why Do Ethics Matter in Effective Leadership?

The Advantages of Ethical Leadership

Fosters Trust

Helps Build a Solid Reputation for the Business

Improves Business Profitability

How To Embrace Ethical Leadership

Clearly Define Right from Wrong

Apply the Golden Rule

Be a Leader of Integrity

Be a Good Role Model

Keep Abreast of Changing Norms

Final Thoughts

5 Signs That Your Transparency as a Leader Is Erratic

Consequences of Erratic Transparency in Leadership

Benefits of Fostering Transparent Leadership

Faster and More Creative Problem-Solving

Higher Engagement

Fresh Perspectives

Boost in Productivity

Ways To Make Transparent Leadership Work for You

Clearly Define Goals and Expectations

Be Honest About Obstacles and Challenges

Encourage Conflict

Don’t Cross Boundaries

Keep Your Promises

Final Thoughts

Risks Involved in Transparent Decision-Making

Is It Worth the Risks? The 6 Consequences of Non-Transparency

8 Benefits of Transparency in Decision-Making

4 Ways To Ensure Gainful Transparency in Decision-Making

1. Brainstorm with Your Team

2. Delegate Tasks

3. Ensure Inclusivity

4. Utilize Tools

Key Takeaways

4 Signs That You Don’t Apply Transparency in Decision-Making

Passive-Aggressive Behavior

Ulterior Motives

Strained Connections

Misalignment

3 Effects of a Non-Transparent Decision-Making Process

Ineffective Decision-Making

Lack of Accountability

Poor Employee Retention

3 Ways To Ensure Transparency in Decision-Making

Adopt an Effective Standard of Communication

Respect Your Team

Provide Regular Updates

How To Implement Transparency in Your Organization