Deal or No Deal...Trust or No Trust?

Patrick Lencioni, the author of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” built his pyramid on the foundation of “trust”. He concluded that the absence of trust creates a fear of conflict, which leads to the lack of commitment, then leads to the avoidance of accountability, which leads to inattention to results. In our personal lives, trust is what creates the connection with others and leads to strong relationships.

What is trust? As stated in an article by “Lumen Learning”, trust is a positive expectation that another individual will not act opportunistically at another’s expense. Trust is dependent on history, based on relevant but limited samples of experience. Trust involves five key dimensions:

• Integrity: the honesty and integrity of the individual.
• Competence: the knowledge and ability of the individual.
• Consistency: the reliability of the individual.
• Loyalty: the willingness of the individual to protect the interests of another.
• Openness: the individual’s willingness to be forthcoming with others.

In today’s world of business, there are plenty of reasons for trust to be deteriorating. Wells Fargo took advantage of sales teams and, with them, their own customers, and their predatory behavior was called onto the carpet in front of Congress. Volkswagen’s faked emissions testing cost their business customers and international relations. Facebook has been taken to task for lax security measures around users’ personal information, and the lack of checks and balances in their advertising policies may have influenced our country’s presidential election.

Trust is a fundamental aspect of any productive relationship and business. In business, trust has been proven to decrease turnover, increase innovation, and improve team performance. When trust is compromised, relationships and productivity can suffer.

The Association of Talent Development recently shared the five steps for building trust in the workplace. Here is what they offered:

• Be transparent (T) with your team. Transparency is showing accountability through communication. Being honest, being vulnerable, giving feedback, and stating expectations are all forms of transparency. Without transparency, people tend to make up their own truth about something. For instance, if you don’t give feedback after they’ve made a mistake, they believe it’s ok to repeat that same mistake again. If you neglect to say, “good job,” they think you didn’t like the results they provided. Be transparent by giving constructive criticism and positive feedback often, so people understand where you’re coming from and what your expectations are. You can also be transparent by admitting mistakes and being vulnerable with others. This shows that you’re not perfect either, and it’s a great way to show people that they can trust you. By being an example for your team, they will learn to be more transparent with you and one another.
• Respect (R) everyone. Respect your employee’s time, their opinions, and their ideas. If you say your meeting is at 9 a.m., don’t show up at 9:15. If you say you have an open-door policy, don’t shut the door just because you don’t agree with someone’s perception. Remember, great leaders are great listeners. Showing respect doesn’t mean you have to agree with everyone, but when you honor their feelings, it builds trust, and they feel safe to open up more often. Respect is simply the Golden Rule in action: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
• Unite (U) your team. The first step here is to let people know that you will not tolerate cliques and gossip amongst your team. Gossip is like cancer; it kills team morale. Trust, however, is the cure. The second step is to have them work toward one vision. Give them a group project they have to complete by working together. If they fail, they all reap the consequences, and if they succeed, they all receive the reward. The team that struggles together and succeeds together is a team that unites.
• Show (S) them you care. As leadership expert John C. Maxwell said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Trust is built when someone sees that you truly value them as a person and not just as an employee. You can show people you value them by learning more about them personally, praising them daily, and asking for their input more often. When people feel valued, you do more than earn their trust…you earn their loyalty as well.
• Trust-Building Activities (T) build morale. It’s been proven that when someone enjoys the people they work with, they’re happier and are more productive—and that doesn’t happen by accident. One of the ways to raise morale and build trust at the same time is to provide activities focused on building trust in teams.

In order to build trust, we need to be open, honest, transparent and vulnerable. We need to not deny that there are trust issues in our organization. We need to not defer addressing those trust issues to a date in the future in hopes that they will resolve themselves. In the end, we need to be proactive and execute a mindset that makes a “trust culture” a priority in our businesses, along with a “culture of accountability”. One simple tool that increases trust in an organization is the EOS® (Entrepreneurial Operating System) Model and Process as discussed in the book “Traction” by Gino Wickman.

If you have any questions or would like to continue this discussion further, please contact us at ashley.berecz@peerexecutiveboards.com or go to our website at www.peerexecutiveboards.com and contact us virtually. We will be happy to get back to you!

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EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System® takes entrepreneur businesses on a journey of mastery of the EOS tools which enables businesses to elevate their leadership teams to make better decisions, maintain a level of accountability, at attain greater success more simplistically. The components of EOS® are Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction, which when used effectively attains a healthier organization with greater success.  Marshall Krupp is a recognized Certified EOS® Implementer serving clients through the nation. He is also a national speaker, a past award-winning Vistage Worldwide Chair, and a past career of providing crisis management strategic advisors service to businesses, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Review more at www.peerexecutiveboards.com and at www.eosworldwide.com/marshall-krupp. Review the YouTube video here