Core value · Truth family
Transparency
Being clear about your reasons
Also covers Openness
What does transparency mean as a core value?
Transparency as a core value means showing your workings: sharing the reasons, trade-offs and information behind your decisions so people can understand them and form their own view.
You want decisions to be right, and you want people to be able to see why they were made. Transparency means showing your workings: the reasons, the trade-offs, the information you had at the time. You’re open by default, and closed doors or unexplained decisions make you uneasy, whether they come from a leader, a company or a friend. For you, openness is a form of respect. It treats people as capable of handling the real picture and forming their own view.
What does transparency look like in practice?
- You explain the reasoning behind a restructure, including the options you rejected.
- You share the budget with your team so they can see how the answer was reached.
- You tell your partner what’s behind your worries about money.
- You circulate meeting notes so people who weren’t there can see what was decided and why.
- You mention a conflict of interest before anyone asks.
When is transparency overplayed?
Transparency can tip into oversharing. Half-formed thinking, confidential detail or every doubt ends up on the table, which unsettles people who needed a clear direction more than a window into your head. It can also trample other people’s privacy, because openness about a situation often means openness about the people in it. Healthy transparency is generous with reasons and clear about what isn’t yours to share. Before sharing, you could ask what the other person needs to understand and trust the decision, and start there.
Often confused with
Transparency vs Honesty
Honesty is not deceiving anyone. Transparency goes a step further and shares your reasons and information without being asked.
Transparency vs Communication
Communication is how well you get a message across. Transparency is about what you choose to reveal, particularly the why behind a decision.
Transparency vs Trust
Trust is about relying on others and being relied on. Transparency is one way of earning it: letting people see enough that they don’t have to take you on faith.
Questions to sit with
- What decision have you made recently that people are still guessing about?
- Where are you open about the facts but closed about your real reasons?
- What would you rather people didn’t see, and is that about privacy or self-protection?
More values in Truth
Honesty, openness and being who you say you are.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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