Going Forward

A July 2002 Gallup poll indicated that more than 7 in 10 Americans distrust CEOs of large corporations and nearly 8 in 10 believe that top executives of large companies will take “improper actions” to help themselves at the expense of their companies ( USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, 7/16/2002). The demand for transparent, credible leadership is fast becoming a priority, and those who do not measure up will not be tolerated.

As organizations seek to be more credible and implement strategies to become more transparent, there likely will be some discomfort, especially for those responsible for being more transparent. Companies and leaders will be forced to address their undesirable areas and deficiencies if the fog is removed. Yet in the clearing of these awkward stages of building a more transparent operation are benefits for both the organization and its leaders—increased trust, effective collaboration, and overall better organizational health. And when people are allowed to see those undesirables and deficiencies, some likely will try to help to turn them around.

In turning leadership around, in helping organizations become more transparent and always credible, leaders not only must develop an intuitive sense of transparency’s optimal level, but they also must fulfill the nine expected behaviors of credibility. If leaders hone this basic platform with their peers and followers and build a reputation marked by rocksolid credibility, they sometimes will be excused from the rigorous procedures of transparency, no longer having to account for every action and reasoning. Trust will have returned. And those leaders will experience the power that comes from sharing knowledge—instead of holding onto it— and the success that comes when they are always preceded by a credible reputation.