SecretDelusions

For almost 20 years now I have encouraged organizational leaders (particularly school principals and superintendents) to assume that "there are NO secrets." It is delusional to think otherwise.

With instant communications via texts, social media, phones, internet platforms, and (coming soon) embedded chips within the human body, the days of "controlling the narrative" or "keeping a lid on it" are gone.

How can we, as leaders of organizations, handle this dilemma? Consider the following as behavioral strategies:

• Be honest. ALWAYS. With everyone.
• Clarify and clearly articulate 3-5 worthy and noble principles which other can count on us to hold to. Come wind, come rain, come storm, come crisis, come scandal......others will know what to expect from us.
• Don't say or write anything we don't want splattered across the universe. PERIOD!
• Flatten our organizational communications so that every internal and external stakeholder hears the same thing, in the same way, and (preferably) proactively. Remove as many filters and filterers as possible.
• When we screw up...own it, fix it, move on.

TRUST is the currency of leadership. Earning it is a perpetual task of our work.

Today is an excellent day to start.