741: Getting Better at Transparency, with Minda Harts

Coaching for Leaders

Dave Stachowiak

Education, Business, Management, Self-improvement, Careers

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Minda Harts: Talk to Me Nice
Minda Harts is a bestselling author, workplace consultant, and sought-after keynote speaker who is redefining what it means to build trust in the workplace. As the bestselling author of The Memo, Right Within, and You Are More Than Magic, Minda has empowered thousands to be their own best advocates and navigate workplace challenges with confidence. She has just released her newest book, Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace.

Sometimes we assume that we’re helping by shielding people from difficult news. But as we all know, virtually everyone wants transparency from leaders. In this conversation, Minda shows us how to get better at it.
Key Points

You’re not helping by shielding people from difficult conversations.
Most everyone assumes baseline behaviors of employees. Employees expect reciprocity through transparency.
We often think about transparency with information that’s known. Just as important is clarity about what’s not known.
Even when you can’t share news, you can put time and resources into what will help people handle a new reality when it arrives.
Transparency provides clear, honest, and timely information.
Promote transparency in roles. A job description is a helpful starting point for this.
Good intentions do not mean good impact. When changes happen, communicate them as quickly as practical.

Resources Mentioned

Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace* by Minda Harts

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

The Path Towards Trusting Relationships, with Edgar Schein and Peter Schein (episode 539)
How to Help Difficult Conversations Go Better, with Sheila Heen (episode 655)
Preparing for a Conversation with Someone You Don’t Trust, with Charles Feltman (episode 708)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sometimes we assume we're helping people by shielding them from difficult news.
0:05.5	But as we all know, virtually everyone wants transparency from leaders.
0:11.0	In this episode, How to Get Better.
0:13.8	This is Coaching for Leaders, Episode 741.
0:18.4	Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.
0:26.8	Greetings to you from Orange County, California.
0:30.3	This is Coaching for Leaders, and I'm your host, Dave Stahofiak.
0:35.1	Leaders aren't born.
0:36.8	They're made.
0:37.9	And this weekly show helps you discover leadership wisdom through insightful conversations.
0:43.7	One of the words that I hear a lot when we talk about leadership is the word transparency.
0:50.4	So many of us want to be transparent.
0:53.4	So many organizations espouse transparency. And yet, as we've all experienced, both as leaders and as employees and working in organizations, sometimes good intentions don't always play out the way we want. And yet I know so many of us care so deeply about transparency and creating a workplace that is going
1:12.9	to do that well. Today, I'm so glad to welcome back Minda Hearts to the show to help us to take
1:18.6	the next step on getting better at transparency. Minda is a best-selling author, workplace consultant,
1:25.1	and sought after keynote speaker who is redefining what it means
1:28.9	to build trust in the workplace. As the best-selling author of the memo right within,
1:34.5	and you are more than magic, Minda has empowered thousands to be their own best advocates and
1:40.3	navigate workplace challenges with confidence. She has just released her newest book, Talk to Me Nice, the Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace.
1:50.1	Minda, always a pleasure to talk to you.
1:52.1	Welcome back to the show.
1:53.7	Thank you, Dave.
	...

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