I was up on the shores of Lake Superior yesterday delivering training. Besides being on the water on an incredibly beautiful day, the session itself was a huge success. A mix of different teams and several leaders wanting to enhance their skills. The topics weren’t new to them (communication, problem-solving, emotional intelligence), but they were engaged and listened with new ears. They shared deep questions, great reflection, and laughter to boot. This is the session all trainers adore. After, I spoke with a few of the leaders. They were curious how to build trust and apply some of the concepts to shorter-term, part-time, or even seasonal staff. I appreciated the question immensely. These leaders weren’t looking for an out on investing in their staff or a quick fix for development, but trying to find a way to build trust when turnover for staff who are not full time is normal, and at times higher than normal.
If you’ve been following me, you know I speak a great deal about leadership. Events globally the last few weeks have fully convinced me that leadership is key to success in so many ways. We have some serious leadership issues in every sector of the globe, and at every level imaginable. What the hell has happened to compassion and kindness? Ethics? Respect? Trust? Ugh, I’ll stop there, or I will go on a rant, and that is not for today. Leaders play such a huge role in the success of their organizations. This includes any type of organization including government. Leaders, however, are not the only ones responsible for the success of their organizations. All of us are responsible. Compassion, kindness, ethics, respect? Those are traits everyone in the organization should have and exercise with passion. Trust? All of us must work to build trust, not just leaders.
Trust is “an individual’s belief in, and willingness to act on the basis of, the words, actions, and decisions of another.” (Lewicki & Wiethoff, 2000, p. 87). We tend to think that trust is only a two-way build, so we focus on one relationship at a time, you and me. Here’s the deal though, trust isn’t just between you and me, it is between everyone. In our organizations, when we set inconsistent standards or messages, we create enemies of trust that dent relationships and slowly bring about toxic cultures. Consistent standards and messages are the responsibility of leaders. What happens though when our teammates show up late? Don’t do their job? Engage in sharing false information? Bully others? Push out others? Don’t communicate? They too then create enemies of trust and wreck relationships slowly bringing about toxic cultures. It doesn’t matter if you are a leader, full-time, part-time, seasonal, or just wanting something to do (those people exist!). Trust is a requirement for all of us in our organizations…to build and respect.
Leaders and followers are all part of the TEAM. Building trust – the belief and willingness to act upon words, actions, and decisions – isn’t just built between you and me, it’s built as a team as well. When expectations are not held up for all, we betray the trust of the entire team. When teammates work to push others out the door because “we don’t like them,” we betray the trust of the entire team. When you get hired for a job and don’t show up because you got another position elsewhere or just didn’t feel like it, you betray the trust of the entire team, even if you didn’t know them (not to mention it’s just a crappy way to behave). My point is that building trust and creating strong relationships starts with you and me but extends far beyond us, it affects our entire team. Our relationship with each other can affect the entire organization. What kind of behavior are we modeling that creates trust with everyone? I hope it’s a kind that promotes compassion, kindness, respect, ethics, and trust. Because then, I know success is super close behind.
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.
Lewicki, R.J. & Wiethoff, C. (2000). Trust, Trust Development, and Trust Repair. In. M. Deutsch & P.T. Coleman (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (p. 86-107). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.