Are you an authentic leader? Do you find it easy or hard to be transparent with your team? In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses the power of authenticity and transparency in leadership. She shares practical strategies to build trust, engage your team, and create psychological safety so that everyone feels safe to express their ideas and take risks. If your team doesn’t seem to take risks, this will be an eye-opening episode to listen to.

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Show Notes:

It’s more important for your team to trust you than to simply like you.
Being transparent means being open, honest, and authentic without hidden agendas.
Our brains are wired to perceive threats more than safety.
Without trust, teams become defensive and stagnant.
When team members feel safe to take risks and voice their ideas, this leads to greater innovation and success.
Strategies For Transparency:
- Share insights from leadership meetings openly with your team.
- Provide more information rather than less to avoid misunderstandings: use The Impact Filter^™ tool to share your thinking and intentions.
- Explain the reasoning behind decisions and include awareness of the emotional impact on the team.
- Use “I” statements to express your feelings without blaming others.
- Acknowledge your limitations and ask for help when needed.
- Ask open-ended questions without leading toward a specific answer. Be willing to listen genuinely.
- Close the loop on discussions by sharing outcomes and reasoning behind decisions.
- Regularly check in on how team members feel about decisions.
Stay straightforward and avoid manipulative tactics; focus on solutions instead of creating unnecessary drama.
Understand your own triggers and emotional responses to better manage interactions with your team.
Regularly assess where you can improve transparency in your leadership approach:
- Where have you felt like it was appropriate to be open and honest?
- Where do you feel held back?
- Where do you take things personally?

Resources:

EOS^®: Entrepreneurial Operating System^®

The Impact Filter

Kolbe

PRINT^®: Team Success Podcast, episode 224, “Uncovering ‘The Why Of You,’ With Debra Levine”

CliftonStrengths^®

Working Genius^®

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