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Swiss Cheese Business

June 18, 2015 By Trans Detective Leave a comment

RU #214
Transparency is like Swiss cheese. Either you love it or hate it.
For those who love it, the sharing (and over-sharing never ends). On any given social media platform, you know everything that’s going on in the lives of everyone all the time – even if you don’t want to. There’s a constant need to show the whole world the inner workings of your little world.
For those who hate it, which is often the case in the business world, transparency is harder to come by. Businesses tend to hold things back, keep an extra card up their sleeve, and evaluate situations first before making a decision about what you want others to know.
Have you ever been on the receiving end of a relationship that puts tactics in front of transparency? Again, like Swiss cheese, it stinks.
Transparency has an important place at the start of and throughout any business relationship:
Beginning the relationship

  • Being honest from the beginning sets an open and positive dialogue. The beginning is when the relationship is most raw – where boundaries are set and trust is established. This is the time when questions should be asked without judgment, when concerns can be addressed without bias, when working together as a team is most crucial.

Overcoming road blocks

  • Sometimes, you may find that a party has been less than honest – whether willfully or otherwise. While it can hurt the trust you’ve worked hard to build and add strain to the budding business relationship, you just have to work together to overcome that setback. Face what could be a simple misunderstanding head on. It may seem like something significant at first, but have minimal impact in the grand scheme of things.

Continued growth

  • All relationships have their ups and downs. But when you aim for an open, honest, and transparent relationship, you’ll find that a successful long-term partnership isn’t nearly as much work. If you want to enjoy the benefits of a successful business relationship in the future, you have to put in the time and effort to create a healthy communication flow now – however tedious it may seem.

Even in business, a little adversity can lead to a big breakup. To build stronger working relationships, you need to be up front in the beginning, commit to working out the hard stuff, and understand what each brings to the table.
Regardless of whether you love it or hate it, you need transparency. It just may take a little getting used to.
photo credit: Fotografiche/Shutterstock.com


AVA_MDrewsIn her second Reman U article, the Trans Detective shares a few observations about swiss cheese and business. Yep, you read that right. How transparent are your business relationships? Comment below or email Megan directly!

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