Why are we all so afraid of being transparent?
So many of us, me included, have throughout life sought to hide things.
Now, there are times where holding back is advisable.
Like poker or in negotiations as there is a time to show and a time to hold.
Yet generally, as we go about life, the more we are transparent, and the sooner we do that, the less problems we will have.
Why do we hide things? Fear.
Fear grips us. Fear has us so worried about what others think.
Yet, when you are transparent, you can open the cage of fear and let fear fly away.
I have for some time switched to a concept called radical transparency.
That’s not just being transparent, that’s shouting about what you would normally hide.
It’s incredibly freeing. You find that the only thing to really fear was your fear.
Let’s shift that to business.
I coach medical offices in the high profit highway of personal injury patients. The lack of transparency in personal injury is all around. Everyone’s hiding things:
Patients hide prior injuries or their extent, fearing that might affect how much they can get in settlement.
Medical providers hide how much that total medical bill will be, fearing the patient will go elsewhere.
Attorneys hide how much they recovered in a settlement and how much they are taking in attorneys fees, fearing the medical provider will then say “why should I reduce my bill if you aren’t?”
What if radical transparency was followed by all. Let’s look at the effect it would have on personal injury:
Patients being transparent actually helps their own treatment and their PI case.
Providers being transparent improves that provider-patient relationship as trust would improve.
Attorneys being transparent leads to more informed settlement decisions by their clients and collaboration by medical providers to help in difficult cases with bill reductions.
By embracing radical transparency and not letting fear control us, life and business would get better.
Sure, there are some hiccups that occur.
But opening the fear cage and letting fear fly out will have us all sleeping better, feeling better, being better.
Because integrity matters and character counts.
And the foundation of integrity is transparency.
Don’t just be transparent. Be radical about it.
Embrace Radical Transparency … for Business and Life.
And I’ll see YOU at the next 2MMM!
