LEADERS DON’T JUST TALK ABOUT TRUST – THEY ASSESS IT
If you read books or articles about leadership, whether they were published 20 years ago or last month, you will inevitably be exposed to a discussion of trust and the role it plays in the leadership journey.
When I was younger and much less experienced, I viewed trust as an important aspect of my relationships – with my managers, my colleagues and my direct reports. My overriding question was “Can I truly trust this person?”
Then as I proceeded up my personal leadership ladder, I learned that equally important was the question “Can I prove my own trustworthiness to the same people?”
I realized that merely because I was the leader of a team did not mean that my team members should trust me. I was obligated to prove to them, through my words and actions, that they could trust me; my title alone did not make me trustworthy.
Whenever we hired someone at Georgetown CLE during my 32 years there, I always said to a new team member on his or her first day in the office: “Trust is precious. I do not expect you to automatically trust me just because I run this office. I know I need to gain your trust over time. Please give me that opportunity.”
Then I added,” In the same way, I expect you, through your words and actions, to gradually gain my trust. It will not happen overnight. It will require repeated examples and episodes. And I look forward to the two of us building a working relationship grounded in trust and trustworthiness.”
On several occasions, I had to follow up on those words by firing team members who demonstrated a lack of trustworthiness. On one occasion a young man printed out pornographic pictures in non-work hours but forgot to remove them from the printer tray. In another instance, a front desk person “borrowed” money from our petty cash drawer for a personal expense.
Conversely, I remember an episode when one of our senior people made a terrible proofreading error that caused us to have to reprint 60,000 brochures. As soon as she realized her mistake, she came to me and acknowledged her mistake. I could tell from her body language, facial expression, and tone of voice that she was truly remorseful. She even encouraged me to take the cost of the reprinted brochures out of her monthly paycheck. From that day forward, the level of trust flowing between us was never higher.
I was reminded of the importance of trust in leadership this week when I read an article titled “Make Trust Measurable.” The author stated that we all know that trust is critical to good leadership, but few leaders ever use a tool to measure the amount of trust on their teams. The author suggested that instead of relying on our gut instinct, we as leaders ought to start measuring, tracking and managing trust within our teams the same way we use other metrics.
These were some of his suggestions:
-Choose the right measuring tool that focuses on what you wish to measure, like leadership behavior or team culture
-Monitor trust consistently because it is not static; it rises and falls based on leadership decisions and external pressures
-Act on the data you receive because measurement is hollow unless it drives leadership action. Leaders can use trust scores to identify gaps between perception and reality, then train and coach team members appropriately
-Benchmark externally by comparing your team’s trust scores with other organizations in your world, or at least talk about trust metrics with other leaders you admire and respect
Trust is a precarious aspect of every organization. As the leader, it is your job to stay on top of the trust level on your team, making sure it flows both ways!
For more on this critical topic, I encourage you to read “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey. After you read it, let me know what you think!
If you believe this content would resonate with a friend or colleague, please feel free to forward it along!
-Larry