Culture: Transparency with Empathy

Culture is a topic extremely close to my heart and something I've written about a couple of times. Today, I met Rand from Moz and resonated with him strongly. Needless to say, culture is a topic extremely close to his heart as well! What can I say... great minds think alike! :p

In this post, I'd like to revisit what culture means and specifically focus on developing transparent and empathetic culture. I'll also explore how both of these attributes collide head to head often and how to resolve issues at that point.

Culture isn't about the perks of the company or the parties they have weekly; it's about the values everyone (especially founders) hold even when times are tough. I value a society that trusts each other and I've come to believe that the only way to do so is to have a transparent yet empathetic attitude.

Transparency is about being honest about failures, weaknesses, tough times and etc. It builds a trustful community and has immeasurable effects on the company's stability and motivation for employees. 

Nevertheless, you don't want it to be rude. Be honest but tactful. Don't point out someone's mistakes to make yourself look good or make someone else look bad. Don't make it such that it's hurtful to the other guy. Understand his situation and make him understand that he made a mistake but he can EASILY correct it. The key is to make it look like correcting a mistake or recovering from a failure is straightforward and achievable. 

As such, being unempathetic destroys the value of transparency and makes for a bitter culture.

As such,

Be transparent, but empathetic. If anything has to be sacrificed, sacrifice the one that makes for a positive culture.