There is one thing that is common to every relationship, in every team, family, organization, nation and civilization throughout the world — one thing that is so critical its removal would destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character or the deepest love. On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, this one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. The one word is trust. I take great concern to build relationships with those I serve that are built on trust. It is a slow and methodical process, but in order to gain the trust of those I serve it is worth it. How do you build trust?
Trust is a learnable competency that is comprised of credibility and behavior. In order to build credibility and shape your organization toward trusting behavior, there are 3 things that must happen:
Leaders must cast vision so crystal clear that everyone gets it. The strategy on how to reach the vision quickly follows and is communicated effectively to every level of the organization. I'll say again, every level of the organization. It lays down the pathway of how to get where we are going. Everyone in the organization, especially those at the lowest levels desperately need insight to the vision and strategy so they have something to believe in and someone to trust.
Clarify expectations
Everyone has a role to play in the organization. In addition to playing their part, they must clearly understand the expectations that come with their role. No one likes surprises. My rule is that any expectations that is either unspoken or unclear is also unrealistic.
Extend trust
To allow someone the opportunity to trust you, you may often have to extend trust not yet earned. Let me clarify. When your child wants to take the car for their first drive alone, there is a level of anxiety that comes over a parent that is truly unnatural. As the parent, you rationalize in your mind they are not ready, you tell yourself they can't do it, you think they may get into an accident and so on. It's a big responsibility to drive a car, but at some point in your life, and in all honesty - likely before you were really ready, someone trusted you with the keys by yourself. You were extended trust you really hadn’t had an opportunity to earn yet. That's what I am taking about.
I mentioned the makeup of trust as being credibility and behavior. How do you establish these?
Credibility is established over time, after consistent results that meet or exceed expectations. The behavior aspect, while a little subtler, is the main building block to solidifying your credibility. Consistency is definitely one of the most important aspects of behavior. There are other words, like; reliability, predictability, dependability, but they are all variations on the theme that has trust as its melody.
It takes time and energy to build trust, but it is always time well spent.
