Radical transparency can have a profound impact on remedying toxic work cultures.
In one role, I was tasked with creating a weekly report summarizing the business(s) highs and lows. While the concept was straight forward and I did what was asked, the report stirred unnecessary controversy as management from different teams were unaware of items submitted. Members of management felt they were thrown under the bus and got defensive instead of focusing on driving results for the business and using the report for transparent conversations. The conversations quickly instead turned to who should be submitting the weekly report. The bickering served as an example to the broader organization the importance of managing up vs open, honest, and direct communication. If organizations truly want to remedy toxic work cultures, it starts with leadership demonstrating the behavior they want to see.