Each day when we pick up the newspaper, turn on CNN, or glance at a news magazine, we are reminded that the economy stinks, our investments have tanked, and greed and corruption (and Ponzi schemes) are alive and well. The impact on most of us is increased suspicion and doubt about who we can trust in business.
As leaders of business, we must be more aware than ever how our employees, suppliers, and customers view our organization and our leadership. Are we providing them a leader or an organization they can trust? We know that there are many techniques we might use to influence colleagues or key decision makers to help us get the results we need to achieve. Yet, for any of those techniques to work, the person or group we want to influence must view our leadership or our organization as credible. They must trust us.
Stephen M. R. Covey, in his book The Speed of Trust, identifies 13 behaviors common to high trust leaders and persuades us that with intention, we can extend, create, and even restore trust. He encourages us to take stock of our credibility by an examination of our character and our competence.
Covey defines character as integrity, your motive, your intent with people. Of course it is essential. He defines competence as your capabilities, your skills, your results, and your track record. Both character and competence are vital to trust. Character is a constant while competence is situational and depends on the circumstances. Both can be improved.
So, as a business leader, what do you do?
First, assess honestly where you are in terms of character and competence. Do the same for those leaders on your team. Maybe some of that assessment includes checking in with others – such as employees or critical customers or stakeholders. Once you know where gaps may exist, you can do something about it.
Second, build an action plan for yourself or your organization and identify the behaviors that could improve trust. Who will you target? Be specific.
Third, take action and have conversations addressing trust. If trust has been broken, acknowledge that and ask what you can do to improve the relationship going forward. Listen! Listen! Listen!
Fourth, make and keep your commitments. Nothing increases customer or employee satisfaction like commitments kept. Even the little ones count. Nothing undermines trust like failure to keep commitments.
Whether or not you are a follower of Covey’s model, the impact of his premise is significant. Once you become aware that trust is more than honesty, you will see how those dimensions of character and competence play out in our market reputation, our organization, and in our relationships both personal and professional.
Trust makes a huge difference. The dividends that flow from high trust are incalculable. With so much uncertainty in our world today, it is more difficult for leaders to set the vision, lead with confidence, and follow through when much of the market is in disarray.
I believe that one of the best hedges to long term survival in business today is leading with trust. As Stephen M.R. Covey says, it is “the one thing that changes everything”.
arCapa consults with businesses in leadership and team development, and is proud to facilitate a business simulation based upon Stephen M. R. Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust. The Speed of Trust simulation helps all types of organizations, teams, and individuals assess how trusted they are, identifies behaviors that drive trust, and prepares them to take the actions to become more trusted than ever before.