Being an open book is scary for many people.

 

And this is what I find in our line of work. My company is a technology consulting company that helps other organizations benefit from project portfolio management, business intelligence and collaboration solutions.

There are plenty of reasons to have these tools: improving project oversight, increasing productivity; optimizing resource allocations; making wise selections of project portfolios, just to mention a few.

 

Although these software systems promise huge gains for organizations, they often face some level of resistance from the user in the adoption cycle.

 

Why? Become it makes people and their work visible across the organization. While transparency is exciting to some, it is uncomfortable for those who are afraid of accountability or judgement or simply not used this concept. If not dealt with early on, the resistance will be apparent, seriously undermining the positive impact enterprise technologies can bring.

 

But how can we help people embrace transparency?

 

It is actually quite simple: If leaders embrace transparency, people they lead will follow. It’s simple but not necessarily easy. Many leaders are yet to become more authentic in order to wholeheartedly embrace transparency themselves .

 

Lasting change comes from leaders leading by example, listening and caring about others. Force or bribe people to do something does not work well in a long run.

 

Another benefit of transparency: A recent study based on analysis of over 40,000 employees concludes: “Management transparency is the top factor when determining employee happiness (engagement)”

 

Transparency does not just benefit the organization, it benefits everyone in it, as it inspires people to hold themselves to a higher standard and become their professionally best; it also develops characters and makes people better people.

 

Embracing transparency can be a challenge and it requires courage. And every challenge is an opportunity for growth.

 

Our world increasingly belongs to people who can bare their souls. There are less and less secrets, from governments and corporations to individuals. What does this mean? It means our world is heading in a great direction – a direction that organization embraces transparency will thrive, people with nothing to hide will shine.

 

That, is a fantastic thing.