Transparency is a multiplier. When employees at all levels have access to the company’s goals and progress, alignment becomes second nature, and accountability becomes cultural. Rockefeller Habit #10, as outlined by Verne Harnish in Scaling Up, emphasizes that visibility is not just for executives. Every team member should know what the company is working toward and how it’s doing along the way.
Plans and performance should be visible, trackable, and understood by everyone. This visibility builds trust, drives focus, and fuels momentum.
Make the Plan Clear
Every company has goals, but not every company communicates them well. Strategic priorities—whether quarterly rocks, annual goals, or 3-year targets—should be public, posted, and reinforced. That could mean digital dashboards, weekly updates, all-hands meetings, or printed scoreboards on the wall.
If no one can see the scoreboard, how can they know if they’re winning?
Clarity of direction empowers employees to make better decisions. When someone understands how their team’s work connects to broader company goals, it adds purpose and precision to their efforts.
Make the Performance Visible
Equally important is showing how the company is tracking against its goals. According to Harnish, the best companies report on both qualitative updates and quantitative KPIs. These should be reviewed weekly, not just quarterly, and should be easily accessible, without needing to dig through reports or dashboards only the leadership team can interpret.
Example: Sales goals, customer satisfaction scores, project timelines, or NPS results can be posted and reviewed weekly or monthly at team huddles.
The Trust Factor
Transparency is a leadership tool. It sends a message: “We trust our people with the truth.” When performance is visible, wins get celebrated more often, and problems are addressed sooner. It also eliminates silos—cross-functional collaboration improves when everyone’s looking at the same scoreboard.
Habit #10 isn’t just about metrics—it’s about making the company’s journey visible and shared.
Reference:
Harnish, Verne. Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t. Gazelles / Growth Institute.
