When Michael Karnjanaprakorn worked as a CEO, a fair part of his job involved getting people to join, invest in, or partner with the company. In order to do this, he would need to persuade people to buy into his vision. In other words, he would sell.

As he gained more experience with selling, Michael realized that he would need to balance out his vision with a radical degree of transparency in order to set a foundation for stronger trust and clearer expectations. He calls this anti-selling.

For example, here’s how he would apply anti-selling late in the interview phase with a job candidate:

I openly discuss what’s keeping me up at night, such as not being able to secure the next round of funding, strategic plans failing, or competitors entering our space. If candidates asked about our financials, I would share our latest P&L. If they ask about my leadership style, I explain what I’m working on with my CEO coach.

If you want to build trust and to maintain a good reputation, find moments to stop creating perceptions, and dial your transparency up. Rather than raising a person’s expectations and hype, you are choosing to charge the trust battery so they don’t get caught off guard.

When in doubt, it’s helpful to remember that the people you want to work with are smart and resourceful. Whatever the truth is, they will find out one way or another. Ideally, it’s from you.