Building Trust
Nothing can undermine a relationship more completely than lack of trust. In business, politics, marriage, indeed in any significant relationship, trust is the essential precondition upon which all real success depends. But what, precisely, is trust? How can it be achieved and sustained?
Trust is the reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person while to build is to establish a basis for, found, or ground of something. Trust is not something that simply exists from the beginning, something we can assume or take for granted, that it is not a static quality, instead, trust is an emotional skill, an active and dynamic part of our lives that we build and sustain with our promises and commitments, our emotions and integrity. People sense how you feel about them. If you want to change their attitudes toward you, change the negative attitudes you have toward them. Building relationships requires the building of trust or in other words building the expectancy of people that they can rely on your word. It is built through integrity and consistency in relationships.
Trust is a building block in both personal and business relationships and dealing. Ask yourself what percent of the time in your organization is spent dealing with political games, interpersonal conflict, interdepartmental rivalries, and hidden agendas. Often, the higher your move in an organization the larger amount of time is spent playing political games. These games are the result of a lack of trust. People don’t trust their environment, those they work with, or those they work for them.
Decisions made within an organization or by a team are governed by an underlying purpose and values. Trust is directly linked to communication, if this area is neglected, low and diverse agendas result. Clearly communicating mission and long-term goals is an essential ingredient for creating trust within your group. If people are on different pages, you’ll find serious misalignment as everybody maneuvers to protect their systems, paradigms, and their own work and lifestyles. This misalignment reinforces a low trust atmosphere, which impacts the passion team members have for the work of their organization. High empowerment cannot exist in a low trust environment. High alignment cannot exist when people don’t understand the mission and long term goals.
An effective leader views trust as an essential foundation for any relationship. He or she clearly sees that there are four forms of verbal communication that can seriously erode trust – criticism, complaining, comparison, and competition. It’s vital that you analyze whether or not these destructive actions are invading your environment, as well as your own leadership style.
1. Criticism
• Be loyal to those not present. Stephen R. Covey says “One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present.”
• Show up often and be highly visible. Your accessibility as a leader will instill within others the confidence to you before they escalate.
2. complaining
• Have a system in place to allow people to express their complaints. When people feel their concerns are ignored, their time is consumed fretting over those issues and looking for others.
• Turn complaints into action. Ask, “What one thing I can do at this moment to effect change in my current circumstance?” this will help eliminate victim language.
3. Comparison
• Become aware of people’s strengths and talents, and tailor projects around them. People need to feel that their contributions complement the whole.
• Be skillful when complimenting a member of a team when the other members are present. Boosting self-esteem and confidence is good but too much too often when other team members are present may not be a good practice.
4. Competition
• A little bit once in awhile is healthy, but a good leader understand that some people naturally thrive better in competitive environment while other do not.
• As a leader, it is important that you lay out your expectations on the table. Doing so gives direction and meaning to others’ work, helping them focus and concentrate on what they do best.
The marketplace demands high quality at the lowest possible cost, constant innovation and improvement, speed, and flexibility. In a low-trust culture, every one of these values is endangered
Getting To Work On Trust
To walk what we talk; here you are some exercises that can help build trust:
1. Create your own mini360 degree profile that centers on trust. Limit it to about ten questions. Choose people at work or at home that you feel will give you honest feedback. Some questions might be “What do I do that enables you to trust me?” “What was the last thing I did that caused you to distrust me?” “What one thing that I can do that would greatly increase your trust in me?” “On a scale from one to five, where would you rate my trustworthiness?”…etc.
2. Send a short e-mail to a different employee each day for one week. In your e-mail, give praise where praise is deserved. Point our character strengths you admire and how their individual talents are contributing to the whole. Single out one occasion where your trust in these individuals increased. Remember to be honest in your communication and also point out one area that they may improve upon.
3. Carry a Trust Buster note book with you for a week and note how well what you say coincides with what you do. Are your values apparent in your walk and your talk? Any inconsistencies can be major trust buster. Pay attention to your language and how you speak about the times you hear yourself and other people complain and what they are complaining about. Listen for criticism and note specific instances of constructive as well as destructive criticism on your and others’ behalf. You may even want to have a “Trust Buster” session where you present your findings to your team and brainstorm ideas to increase your level of trust.
4. Ask the first ten people you meet at work in the morning “What is the purpose of our group?” The “group” could be the entire company, a team, or a department. Have them write down what they say and then carefully examine the answers. Then get those ten people together and discuss the results. Try the same question on your family. Then develop a family mission statement that reflects the values and goals family members express.
5. Try a getting-to know-your-team activity. Make a list of questions about team members, e.g., How long has Mary worked with our team? Who is Tom’s biggest hero? Where does Sue wants to be in ten years?, etc. Give a copy of the list to each team member. When everyone has all the questions answered, ask what the biggest surprises were/ knowing your team members better can help build trust.
Trust starts with you. Transforming a corporation, work team, or family begins at the personal level. Other people's trust in you grows out of your personal trustworthiness—your character and competence. When mutual trust exists, people feel motivated to go out of their way to help and support one another.
To discover more about the benefits of Building Trust and learn how to increase your trust worthiness, get to know Franklin Covey’s Building Trust: The Key to High Performance™ workshop which is designed to help you focus on things you can have an impact on—your character, competence, and relationships with others.
The effects of increased trust reach deep into the heart and soul of individuals and organizations. Why? Because trust lies at the very core of leadership and effective human interaction.
Here are just a few of the benefits this one-day workshop is designed to produce:
• Increased personal trust and trustworthiness
• Strengthened relationships and improved communication in all areas of your life
• Sustained positive change, resulting in more effective and cohesive work teams
• Decreased frustrations caused by dysfunctional relationships
• Increased commitment to the organization's strategy and vision
• Drastic reduction or elimination of office politics and infighting
• Improved quality of products and services
Source: Mission News Letter – Issue 10