In reading a whole host of leadership books over the years, trust is spoken about frequently.
In the Speed of Trust, Covey speaks about how speed and cost savings is activated when trust is present. In the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni’s anchoring premise is the power of Vulnerability Based Trust.
In reading this morning, as only Brene Brown can, she laid down the hammer in “Dare to Lead.”
No Trust, No Connection.
Trust is the glue that holds teams and organizations together.
Trust is the one thing that changes everything. It’s not a nice-to-have; it’s a must have. Without it, every part of your organization can fall, literally into disrepair.
You cannot establish trust in two days when you find yourself in an organizational crisis; it’s either already there or it’s not.
So naturally, what can we as leaders do today to build trust in our families, teams and organizations:
1. Say what you mean and do what you say –
No one is perfect in this regard but the more we follow through with what we said we’d do, the better off we’ll be in garnering trust.
2. Be Transparent –
Frequently, leaders are holding back far too much information from their teams. Take time to share “the why behind the what.” The history, the compelling factors, the potential landmines or opportunistic outcomes.
3. Be Curious –
Assumptions and jumping to conclusions are fast passes to defensiveness and broken trust. Tell me more… Withhold judgment until the necessary information is out on the table.
4. Protect –
Whenever possible, protect those who aren’t present or yet able to speak on their own behalf. Carrying a posture of protecting those entrusted to us is an enormous mark of trustworthy leadership.
The reality is,
Trust is like oxygen. We don’t always acknowledge when it’s present but we know right away when it’s not.
In each moment and conversation, we as leaders are offered the opportunity to provide a hedge of protection for our teams and people. In doing so, trust will grow —- and for leaders who are created to establish safe and healthy places for people to do the danger —- it isn’t optional.
Curiousity!!!
Thanks JB, that feels like a huge win today
I am so grateful my grandson works for such a caring, honest, trustworthy company. We pray for you to stay the course which isn’t easy in the world we live in now. A. Bushart.