The Power of Transparency: Why Leaders Withhold Information and How It Impacts Their Teams
- Zoran Vidovic
- Oct 24, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2024
Have you ever been left questioning your judgment and doubting yourself in your workplace? Was it due to a lack of information that led to wrong conclusions or due to a misunderstanding of the information?
Withholding information is not necessarily a sign of toxic leadership. Still, it could indicate so depending on the industry, nature of information, and the level of information privileges for the position, aka "need to know bases."
Table of contents
- The environment
- The owner
Access to sensitive information
- Temporary
- Permanent
What constitutes withholding information?
In an environment where continuous decision-making is imperative, the information flow is essential. This could range from business environments to NGO or government work, including emergency responses.
Merriam-Webster definition of withholding is: to refrain from granting, giving, or allowing - "Withhold permission".
So, we are restricting someone's access to information. This could be due to the sensitivity of the information and the information privileges, which often go hand in hand.
Sensitivity of Information
This classification of information sensitivity will depend on the environment in which the information is used and the risk of abuse as determined by the information owner or the regulative government entities.
- The environment can be government entities or enterprises (public or private) that are dealing with information that is highly sensitive due to its potential effect on society, which if abused could be detrimental.
Examples:
Government entities, such as the military, deal with privileged information potentially dangerous if acquired by unauthorized entities.
Pharmaceutical enterprises where privileged information about diseases and potential drugs could have a significant impact on global health as well as the profit for the shareholders.
Any enterprise that is considered strategic for the national economy, such as energy producers may have information classified as restricted due to its sensitive nature.
- The owner could classify certain information as restricted for various reasons:
To protect the information from unauthorized disclosure as the data is deemed sensitive and potentially dangerous for the environment or society.
To protect the information from unauthorized disclosure as the data is deemed sensitive due to the potential profit attached to its exploitation.
Access to sensitive information
Access is restricted and obtained after necessary conditions for disclosure are met. Those conditions are mandated by the owner of the information and also by government bodies, including regulatory agencies, that can impose stricter restrictions than the owner.
Either way, the information access will be granted after all the required steps have been taken and the operational standard has been met.
Access can be temporary or permanent.
- Temporary is granted for the selected period. This could be due to temporary assignments on a specific project.
- Permanent is granted for a prolonged period, and it is usually attached to a certain level of position within the organization. Once the position is changed, the level of information access is updated (elevated, restricted, or removed). There is usually a vetting process in place to obtain the necessary clearance for each position.
Either way, the information obtained is restricted from being disseminated without prior authorization.
That is, in short terms, how the information is protected from unauthorized disclosure.
Obviously, we should not consider every piece of information a top secret and so refrain from providing it to our team members as we restrict their ability to come to informed decisions and conclusions.
The danger of withholding information
This is where we get to the potential problem where some leaders might decide to introduce their personal standard for the information restriction on top of the company's or the one imposed by the responsible government entity.
This, if prolonged, will result in confusion, distrust, and degradation of the team's performance as the critical information flow has been cut off.
Why would leaders do it?
For several reasons:
Power. Information is power, and some leaders might try to leverage it to gain more power over their subordinates or colleagues. It creates a false sense of importance.
Control. Who controls the information controls the team. This might be adopted by leaders striving for control over collaboration due to their need for micromanaging in the absence of refined communication and leadership skills.
Compensation. This could be adopted by some leaders with inadequate communication and leadership skills to compensate for their shortcomings.
Lack of understanding of their role. Leaders who do not fully understand their role in the communication circle might decide to restrict information in the hope they are not misunderstood or construed as not adequately able to convey the required information in an easily understandable fashion.
Content. This might leave the leader satisfied with the received attention from the subordinates, as they might be more inclined to ask for information and direction at least at the early stage.
Gratification. It could give a false sense of accomplishment to a leader withholding information, as they might have a feeling of control and power, which in combination with initial attention could result in a false sense of accomplishment.
How does it affect the team?
It affects the team in several ways:
Destroys cohesion as each team member will be affected by it in a different way and will deal with it differently. Some might ask for directions, and others might close in.
Destroys trust as everyone is wondering if the information restriction is implemented across the board or just affecting them. This might make some team members feel insecure and even left out and isolated.
Creates division as every team member is working on their own to find information needed to complete their work, and they might have different approaches to obtaining it.
Creates friction if this is entertained for prolonged periods, as team members might become suspicious of more successful team members even to the point of considering favoritism.
Creates unhealthy competition where the energy is invested in deciphering professional and personal relationships between colleagues and creating personal perceptions based on fragmented information rather than working as a team on a potential solution.
Elevates personal stress for the employees as the necessary information for their job completion has not been provided.
Causes withdrawal and disconnection from the company's mission and the team, due to the feeling of isolation and lack of support.
Causes performance drop as a result of stress and ruined team cohesion due to insufficient information.
Creates a toxic working environment as trust is destroyed, teamwork is eliminated, and self-preservation mode is activated for most of the employees. This then puts self-preservation as an imperative, which brings the team to a secondary position, removing the possibility of collaboration unless fueled by personal gain, which ultimately leads to toxic relations.
Causes top performers to leave as collaboration and trust, which are their core values, have been diminished.
Leaders responsibility
The leader is responsible for determining the true need for information dissemination within the team, depending on the operation.
A leader needs to take into account company policies or applicable regulations regulating access to information considered sensitive. However, the leader is responsible for clearly communicating such restrictions to avoid confusion and resentment as a result of misunderstanding.
The leader needs to be clear about the nature of the information and the conditions at which such information is shared, which, when needed, is followed by the NDA (non-disclosure agreement).
It is also the leader's responsibility not to qualify any information restricted based on their personal preference rather than the actual nature of the information in an attempt to obtain control over the team.
Responsibility of an employee
Each employee needs to understand the importance of sensitive information preservation and act accordingly after receiving the required training in the preservation of sensitive information.
Employees need to understand and adhere to the required protocol in obtaining access to privileged information.
Employees need to understand their leader's responsibilities regarding the dissemination of information as well as their right to access certain information upon adhering to the required protocol.
The employees need to express their concern if the information is not received on adhering to all company protocols, as this might result in voluntary withholding of the information by the leader.
Responsibility of an enterprise
Each employee should be empowered to ask for clarification and access to privileged information needed for the completion of an assigned job.
If such access is not granted, then the justification needs to be provided, and the employee should not be held responsible for not coming to the plausible conclusion.
The employee needs to be able to express their concern regarding the potential friction between the imposed restriction on required information and the need for access to complete the assigned job.
Conclusion: Power of transparent communication
It is the main fuel driving our team's performance!
It is essential for building trust and cohesion, which leads to collaboration and ultimately results!
It develops individual team members into future leaders as it creates a safe forking space for individuals to test their abilities and learn new skills!
It allows for brainstorming and idea exchange, leading to personal and professional development for each team member!
It allows for mistakes and shortcomings during idea exchange in pursuit of resolution!
So, let's talk!
