Trust Through Transparency

Over the last few posts, I have redirected the search for new leaders to the front lines of the organization and established a need for change bottom up. However to be able to stimulate this spark and sustain its momentum, it needs a careful cultivation of the right environment - a culture of trust.

Despite a renewed focus, corporate culture still continues to be one of the most misunderstood words of our time. It is not merely a set of passive statements spoken passionately. The culture of a company is simply the 'way individuals, managers and teams act' on a daily basis aggregated on a macro level. And "trust" should be the cornerstone of these actions.

To build leadership bottom up, employees need to know that they hold immense value in the organization. The Employee First, Customer Second philosophy that was adopted at HCL is built on this very foundation. The employees must know that trust is non-negotiable, and one of the most uncomplicated ways of seeding trust is by 'stretching the envelope of transparency'.

This fabric of trust can be woven with simple but very effective tools like direct and open employee-CEO/manager dialogues, live or on an interactive platform like a blog, employee polls with live results available to all, or knowledge access sans gate keepers.

Generation Y has grown up in an age of information overload. They have learned to sift through multiple layers very quickly to cut through the fluff and get to the heart of the issue. Transparency is the only way to deal with this young talent pool. They live in a world of open communication and that is the only manner they trust.

Generation Y is also a collaborative group. Be it on the internet or the real world, they work well in teams unlike their predecessors who grew up in a far more individualistic manner. They share knowledge, opinion, suggestions far more easily and are more open to receiving the same. Communication is the fulcrum around which they build their personal and professional lives. And in the dynamic business environment that we operate in today, this requires trust. It is easier to work with a team in still waters as you have the luxury of time to overcome misgivings or misunderstandings. However while rafting in choppy waters with constantly changing landscape, the only way teams can succeed is by trusting each other's abilities, action and intent.

There is no choice other than building leadership for tomorrow ground up on the pillars of honest evaluation catalysing change within an environment of trust and transparency. There is no other way but taking a step at a time as there is no elevator going up.