Management

I am a big believer in transparency in business. Done right, transparency promotes open and collaborative work environments. It fosters team trust and communication. And it promotes cultures where intellectual honesty and data-driven decisions supersede politics and excuses. All that said, I have experienced first-hand the repercussions of being overly transparent, and I have spoken with countless founders who aspire to be transparent with their teams, but still struggle with how much to share, at what point, and to whom. ...

Most people have a certain image in their minds when they think of a founder/CEO. They picture the boss in the corner office, standing behind her desk, gazing out over the city. They imagine someone calling all the shots, and everyone relying on their insight and wisdom — a visionary who is never wrong. They fear being grilled, berated, and guilted into working long hours — inevitable top-down command-and-control. When startup founders take this approach today, they fail. ...