Implementing Radical Transparency
Every team can benefit from radical transparency. By being open with your team, you foster trust, alignment, and accountability—critical elements for any successful startup. Here’s how to implement radical transparency and build credibility as a leader.
The Trade-Off of Radical Transparency
Radical transparency comes with risks. Startups are a rollercoaster, and not everyone wants to be exposed to every high and low. There’s also the chance of a leak or breach of trust when sharing sensitive information. However, the benefits of transparency far outweigh the risks. When you share as much as possible with your team and trust them to use that information, you empower better decision-making throughout the organization.
1. Communicate Clear Goals
Don’t shy away from communicating the key goals that will make or break your team’s success. Boldly sharing big objectives can feel uncomfortable, but it’s foundational to transparency. If your team doesn’t know what they’re working toward, how can they make informed decisions? Every team member should be able to clearly articulate the goals and understand why those goals were chosen.
2. Explain the Decision-Making Process
Transparency isn’t just about outcomes—it’s about the process. There are two crucial elements here:
Clarify Decision Ownership: Make sure it’s clear who the decision maker is. This can feel awkward in some team cultures, but if it’s ambiguous, the entire decision-making process is set up for confusion or failure.
Provide Post-Decision Clarity: After a decision is made, offer full details. Anyone should be able to ask about the process, the options considered, and why a particular choice was made. Even if people disagree with the outcome, they will appreciate understanding how and why the decision came about.
3. Deliver Bad News
Transparency isn’t just for good news. Leaders build credibility by delivering bad news openly, honestly, and humbly. Avoiding problems or pretending everything is fine creates a culture of secrecy that prevents teams from addressing challenges head-on. Share the results—good or bad—so the team can learn and grow together.
4. Answer Questions
At Proletariat, we held weekly all-team meetings where leadership answered questions from the company. This can be intimidating for leaders, especially as the company grows, but it’s one of the most powerful ways to build credibility. Answering questions authentically builds trust, and mastering this skill is crucial for both internal and external communication.
5. Avoid Surprises
When people are surprised, it usually means they were left out of the loop. While not every surprise can be foreseen, many can. If you anticipate that an event might shock your team, it’s a sign that you haven’t been transparent enough about what’s happening in the company and how it will affect them.
Final Thoughts
I can’t imagine building a strong culture without radical transparency. By giving your team as much information as possible and trusting them to use it wisely, you build a foundation of trust, alignment, and accountability. While transparency has its challenges, the long-term benefits for your culture and your company far outweigh the risks.