Work in progress
Why sharing your process out loud builds better teams (and better outcomes)
One of the things I remember clearly from primary school maths – apart from the pencils that were never sharp and the smell of Pritt Stick – is being told to show my working.
It didn’t matter if I knew the answer to 342 divided by 6. If I couldn’t show how I got there, I wouldn’t get full marks.
At the time, I found that annoying. Surely getting the right answer was enough? But of course, there was a reason for the rule. A few, actually.
First, the teachers needed to know that we hadn’t just copied the answer from the person next to us! But more importantly, it let them see how we were thinking. Where we’d got the method right, where there might be gaps in our understanding, and where they could help us improve.
It wasn’t just about catching mistakes, it was about building learning.
And it strikes me that somewhere along the way – perhaps not long after we left those maths workbooks behind – many of us unlearned that lesson. As leaders, we often believe we need to show only the answers. Fully formed, polished, packaged up and ready to present.
But that neatness can actually get in the way.
The power of showing your working
There are times when people need a clear answer from you – of course. But if that’s all you ever share, you miss three key opportunities:
It brings others into your thinking
When we narrate our thought process, even briefly, we give people a chance to contribute.
It might help someone spot something you’ve missed. It might invite a perspective you wouldn’t have seen on your own. And it’s probably the reason you hired people in the first place – not to be passive recipients of your decisions, but active participants in shaping them.
So it’s a bit counterintuitive that we so often leave them out of the parts where their input might be most valuable.
It accelerates learning
We all have ways of working that feel obvious to us. We’ve refined them over years, usually unconsciously. But what’s obvious to us is often invisible to others unless we lift the lid a little.
When you show someone how you got to a conclusion, not just what you decided, you give them a learning shortcut. It means they don’t have to figure it out from scratch: they can iterate on your approach, or improve it, or build something new from it.
You make the invisible visible, and that helps them grow faster.
It builds trust
This one surprises people. Many leaders worry that showing their process – especially while it’s still in motion – will make them look unprepared or less competent.
But in practice, the opposite is often true.
When people never see behind your decisions, they can start to feel like outsiders. Held at arm’s length, like you don’t quite trust them with the messy bits.
And that has a relational cost.
The act of sharing your thinking – even a bit of it – invites your team in. It creates more human conversations. It shows them that uncertainty and iteration are normal parts of work. And it signals that they don’t need to have all the answers either.
Which is often when they start bringing you the good stuff.
What about when it’s not appropriate?
Let’s be clear, I’m not suggesting you narrate every thought, in every meeting, with every team. There are plenty of moments where that would be inappropriate.
Some topics require confidentiality. Some decisions need a strong, clear message. Sometimes your team needs certainty from you – even if you’re not quite feeling that same certainty yourself.
However there’s also often a concern that showing your process will make you look vulnerable. You might think, “If I share that I’m still figuring this out, won’t people assume I don’t know what I’m doing?”
It’s a common belief. But it’s worth asking: have you ever tested that assumption?
In my experience, the fear of looking weak is usually greater than the reality. And the leaders who are willing to show even small parts of their thinking, the unfinished, in-progress parts, tend to create teams that are more thoughtful, more collaborative, and more resilient.
Because until you go first, and share, the chances are your team won’t either.
Starting to share your process
If this feels a bit foreign or exposing, you don’t need to start big. Here are three ways to practise:
Start small, and after the fact
Think back to a recent decision you’ve made. Next time you’re discussing it with your team, take 90 seconds to talk through how you got there. What were you weighing up? What made the difference? What did you rule out and why?
It’s a low-risk way to experiment with showing your process without feeling on the spot.
Narrate in real time
When you’re working through something with a colleague or a team, practise verbalising what you’re noticing or thinking about, especially if it’s a complex decision.
You don’t need to turn it into a lecture. Just phrases like:
“I’m leaning towards this option, because I’m weighing X more heavily than Y.”
“One thing I’m not sure about yet is how this might land with [stakeholder group].”
“Here’s what I’m prioritising at the moment, I’m curious if you’d see that differently?”
Invite input explicitly
This is key. Sharing your process isn’t just about broadcasting, it’s about creating space for dialogue. Ask for reactions, questions, challenges.
You don’t need to take everything on board, but making the invitation changes the energy in the room. People stop waiting to be told what to do, and start thinking alongside you.
Final thought
If showing your process feels uncomfortable, that’s probably a sign it’s worth exploring. It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. It means you’re building new muscles.
And over time, those muscles will help you lead more transparently, build deeper trust, and get to better answers – not because you always have the best ideas, but because you’ve learned how to bring others into the process.
Which, let’s be honest, is why they’re here.
What do you think? How do you feel sharing your process out loud? Are there opportunities for you to do it more? Leave a comment or hit reply and let me know.
Meme of the week
Ben speaks the truth…
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!
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