Transparency: Why Letting People See Through You Will Make You Rock Solid

Our generation is ‘in-the-know.’ We want to know everything, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering we have access to the most information faster than any generation in the history of the world. (Good looks, Google.)

Consequently, we don’t want things hidden from us. We want transparency. And we want it in every aspect of our lives, starting with what we buy.

Building Trust with the Customer

During the Michigan Fashion Media Summit this past April, executives from some of the hottest brands in retail discussed the importance of transparency with today’s customer, including Alex Drinker, VP of Marketing at Shinola. When asked how they’re revolutionizing retail, he responded, “For us, it’s the transparency of our business,” and backed it up by disclosing, “We sell our products at 4 times what they cost.” As unusual as it may have been to hear at first, the audience soon realized he was pulling back a curtain. “I think people do care where they’re made, how they’re made and what it costs to make them.”

And he’s right. Just ask Forbes, who did a survey where 94% of millennials agreed. We’re worried about the brands we associate ourselves with, the impact our actions directly and indirectly have on the environment, and definitely our wallets. But, be straight up about it and we’ll pay for the premium. Be transparent and you’ll build our trust.

Building Authenticity in the Workplace

Everyone’s heard Google’s motto, “Bring your whole self to work,” but at first glance, that seems like horse shit. Who wants to be that transparent with their boss? We both know you’re too much of a clown to bring your whole self to work. But then I heard the story of David McKnight, a gay black man trying to make it in Corporate America.

First, I’d like to acknowledge that while his story resonates, I’ll never know struggle like that. Here’s a guy that was great at his job, very friendly and would dress (and I assume act) very conservatively because he was so nervous about what people would think. However, he kept running into career road blocks that wouldn’t move. Until one day, in a performance review, his manager told him his team “didn’t really know who he was.”

Ironically, the wall of secrecy that he’d hid his life behind was exactly what was getting in his way. How can he be asked to lead when no one wants to follow? He started opening up, showing people more of who he was and the connections in the workplace came much, much easier. “When people uncover by choice, they feel more open, and the workplace becomes more inclusive,” he said.

And what if people don’t like who you turn out to be? Well, that’s probably not the place for you. But by being transparent, you get to find out and you eventually will end up where your authentic self belongs.

Building Rapport on Social Media

Ever think about why athletes, influencers and artists alike are posting ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ videos on Instagram and Snapchat constantly? That small 10 second peep into their lives immediately connects them with their followers on a deeper level. We know exactly how weird OBJ is off the field, who @somethingnavy’s kids are (and when her next one’s due), and what flowers DJ Khaled is planting in his backyard. They do it for the same reasons we do—to show off what’s going on in their lives. But, it’s very real and it builds “rapport” as Morgan J Ingram, would say.

Hold on. Who’s Morgan J and what the hell is he talking about? For those that haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while, he’s one of the leading SDR (or Sales Development Rep) professionals killing the content game on LinkedIn. By using video, he takes his pitches straight to ‘face-to-face’ building rapport, or a mutual understanding/better communication between two people, faster and more efficiently. You get the all so important ‘body language’ I alluded to in my first post.

But all the best sales people are doing it too, posting videos and written content about their experiences, their wins, their losses, because the transparency with their LinkedIn community builds “rapport,” which 1) allows everyone to communicate and learn from each other and 2) will translate to sales when applied with clients.

Which ties back in to why I’m writing in the first place. Not to sell anything, but to build rapport, through being transparent about my experiences and thoughts, which in turn, will hopefully produce some feedback and turn some heads.

Building Empathy in Your Life

Life is hard to do alone. Well actually, it’s impossible. You need help and you won’t get good help without empathetic relationships in your life.

One of my favorite parts of living with all my boys at college is the genuine empathy everyone has for each other. It’s easy to see in those big moments — when someone finally gets that job offer or tragically loses a family member. Good or bad, we ask, because we care. And we’re transparent in our answers, because we treat each other like family. Good or bad, we’ll be there.

But we take it to another level of transparency with the small things. “How’d your day go? How was that test? What happened with that girl last night?” It doesn’t matter if you’ve got something awesome or shitty going on, you can tell it like it is in our squad. These small things create real, true transparency on a habitual level and in turn, have led to the empathetic group I’m lucky enough to call my friends.

Our generation’s obsession with transparency is both very much real and even more worthwhile. While our parents will always fear the openness of information in the hopes we don’t put something dumb out there on the web, we will use it to transcend the world. So, let people see right through you. It will make you as solid as a rock — immovable and unbreakable in your endeavors.

Transparency is the one constant that, when adopted correctly, can build trust, authenticity, rapport and empathy in a person’s life and I think we all can agree, the world can use a little more of all that today.