[...]

Transparency is a laudable aim. But there are limits. Zingerman's, an internationally renowned thriving food business, practices open-book management. Employees at every level are invited to participate and give input to department and organizational meetings. Financials are wholly revealed. There is an exception: salaries remain private. Staff are curious, of course. But people are also curious about all manner of things: fires, wrecks celebrity tattletales. Some things — compensation, medical records and personal histories — can and should remain private.

There is an old saying that character is what you do when no one is looking. Perhaps we need to proclaim that saying and adapt it to modern management: "character is managing without anyone around." Actually, there is such a phrase for this: transparent leadership, the act of putting the needs and concerns of people first so the whole organization prospers. That ideal is often not possible, but it is something good to strive for. Because when it does occur, no one ever asks, "What were they thinking?" Indeed!