Trust Is Everything

Hi there 👋🏽. Ready to lead? "Acts of Leadership" helps people, (irrespective of title or tenure), expand their leadership range one experiment at a time. Each issue shares a [pro/e]vocative definition of leadership, an idea and an experiment.

Climb when ready

Looking through my climbing photos this week got me thinking again about the nature of trust.

Climbing on sea cliffs adds a whole other layer to the climbing experience. The incoming tide doesn't wait for a slow leader. Abseiling into the start of the route is a whole other level of commitment and having options for an escape requires additional thought.

On the climb below I know that technically the moves are not that difficult. Well within my ability. The position feels (and sounds) serious with waves breaking against cliffs close by.

Falling has the potential to make the day much longer and more involved than it might otherwise be.

The one thing I’m not thinking about is the person back at the belay holding my ropes. We're in this together, my partner and I.

Over the years we’ve practised, rehearsed and been through this performance many times together.

We trust each other completely.

A Definition…

"Leadership is... the continuing process of deepening trust one interaction, one conversation at a time."

An Idea…

The Anatomy of Trust

Tim Gallwey defined a formula for performance in his book The Inner Game of Tennis.

Performance = Potential - Interference

Interference

Gallwey’s Interference is the inner monologue of our thinking - self-criticism, judgement, fear, catastrophizing. It's what happens when conscious thought gets in the way of your deep bone-knowledge. When your brain gets in the way of your body.

When you stop trusting yourself.

A lack of trust in others (leaders, managers) generates more of this distracting inner conversation. An absence of trust, as in rock climbing, erodes the feeling of safety you experience.

And, of course, you cannot access innate performance when you don't feel safe.

The Trust Atoms

Three elements of trust shared in the linked HBR article are:

1. Positive relationships

2. Good judgement

3. Consistency

Of these three it's relationship that has the biggest impact.

We are all human and therefore imperfect — judgement is not always spot on and we all have our bad days.

The Behaviours of Trust

In The Neuroscience of Trust (linked below) Paul J. Zak shares 8 trust-building behaviours for leaders.

1. Recognise excellence

2. Induce “Challenge Stress”

3. Give people discretion in how they work

4. Enable job crafting

5. Share information broadly

6. Intentionally build relationships

7. Facilitate whole person growth

8. Show vulnerability

Reflection

If you’re like me you’re reading those and deciding which you think you do well or often, and which you think are dubious science. (Pay attention to the latter thought! 😜)

There’s information here. Your intuition is tapping into your values and beliefs, exposing a little of your own Ladder of Inference.

Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report:

- 74% less stress,

- 50% higher productivity,

- 13% fewer sick days,

- 76% more engagement,

- 40% less burnout.

— Paul J. Zak (linked HBR article)

A conversation

You can’t see the trust others have in your leadership. It is therefore hard to measure or assess it — you can only feel the result of it through actions and interactions.

Trust underpins everything we do. It’s fundamental in the field of Psychological Safety. It’s the foundational layer of Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Trust is everything.

The best way to begin unpacking trust is to have a conversation about it within your team.

An Experiment…

🎯 - Facilitate a team conversation using Lencioni’s model. Brainstorm which behaviours erode and reinforce trust within the team. (Instructions in the linked Medium article)

An invitation to explore…

📰 Medium: This Simple Team Activity Builds Psychological Safety

📰 HBR Article: The 3 Elements of Trust

📰 HBR Article: The Neuroscience of Trust

📗 Book: The Inner Game of Tennis : Tim Gallwey

📗 Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team : Patrick Lencioni

Leadership needn't be lonely!

Lead when ready!

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