Positive Principles Newsletter
February 2005
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"Trust is the emotional glue that binds
followers and leaders together."
- Warren Bennis and Bert Nanus
"If you don’t believe in
the messenger, you won’t believe the message."
-
James Kouzes and Barry
Posner
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This month's tip – Without
trust, your team will go bust.
I see it all the time -
leaders who blame followers for breakdowns in the organization. I often
hear complaints like these:
Each of these leadership
laments focuses on what’s wrong with the follower. Each concern excludes
leadership responsibility as a source of or contributor to the breakdown.
I see employees who won’t
do what they are asked to do, or, at best, perform at a bare minimum level.
I see team members who drag their feet on new procedures or work practices.
I see workers who do just enough to get by.
I see these behaviors and I
ask myself - what’s the problem?
When I get the opportunity
to really discuss the issue, I usually hear at least some component of
violated trust. I hear people say that they want to perform at a higher
level, but they don’t trust that they will be recognized or rewarded. I
hear people concerned that they’ll be penalized if they speak the truth and
identify the real problems in the organization. I hear people who have been
beaten-up by current or previous leadership. All signs of violated trust.
Creating an environment of
trust is a tricky issue. People carry past hurts with them. Some people
expect more from their leaders than they are willing to give themselves.
Leaders do things that unintentionally confuse or scare people. Some people
just don’t want to trust organizational leaders. But, regardless of
the past or current situation, the responsibility to build trust lies first
and foremost with the leader. It’s not always fair, and it’s not always
easy. But it is always the leader’s responsibility.
Trust is the foundation for
every successful leader’s accomplishments. When people don’t trust the
leader, they won’t follow very far.
How do you, the leader,
address the issue of trust?
Entire books have been
written about trust, but, for the purpose of this newsletter, I’ll stick
with two quick tips.
The first comes from the
book, The Leadership Challenge. In their survey of leadership
behaviors, James Kouzes and Barry Posner asked the question, “What do you
look for in a credible (i.e. – trustworthy) person?” The number one
response – “They do what they say they are going to do.” So, trust building
tip number one – do what you say you’re going to do.
The second idea comes from
the world of social psychology. Social science researchers have identified
a key behavioral principle that affects the development of trust. This
principle is known as the Principle of Reciprocity. The Principle of
Reciprocity states that we tend to feel obligated to repay in kind what
someone else has given to us. In a nutshell it says that if you want trust,
you must first give trust. Trust building tip number two – show people you
trust them if you want them to trust you.
Trust issues almost always
come back to the leader. It’s possible that you can have isolated trust
issues with just a few people. In this case, it may be just their personal
problem. If you find yourself or if you hear someone else asking the
questions at the top of this page - look out. You may have a systemic trust
problem. If that’s the case, your team is either in trouble or it’s about
to be in trouble. Carefully evaluate what might have happened or might be
happening to damage trust and immediately start applying the two tips above
to begin the repair.
So for now, I encourage you to remember this month's tip . .
.
Without trust, your team will go bust.
Have a great day,
Guy Harris
The Recovering Engineer
