Trust is the great equalizer - with trust, even the smallest teams can move mountains, without trust, whole armies will falter taking a molehill.
When there’s a breach of trust, specific expectations have been violated or mis-aligned. There might be a misunderstanding around accountability and responsibility, or a difference of opinion on values and principles. There might be different expectations on the work to be done, or how work should be done, or the quality expectations for the work to be done.
Trust is also often breached when communication is not authentic or transparent or clear or consistent.
Executives, individuals, teams, partners and customers respond differently when there’s a breach. I use a process leveraging the thoughts below to identify causes for the breach in trust, and to facilitate conversations on how we can each do better at building a culture of trust.
In a Perfect World:
Executives Lead from the Top Down
- Culture of Accountability
- Clear Values and Behaviors
- Explicit Agreements with Partners, Customers, Executives
- Candid and Authentic Feedback for All
- Proactive Communication to Ensure Alignment and Success
Individuals Lead from the Bottom-Up
- Trustworthy Behaviors
- Alignment of Behavior with Culture and Values
- Explicit Agreements with Peers, Managers and Leaders
- Candid and Authentic Feedback for All
Teams Lead Together
- Trustworthy Behaviors
- Alignment of Behavior with Culture and Values
- Explicit Agreements
- Candid and Authentic Feedback
Partners Lead in Collaboration
- Trustworthy Behaviors
- Alignment of Behavior with Agreements
- Candid and Authentic Feedback for All
- Commitment to Agreements and Relationship
- Proactive Measures to Ensure Delivery
Where do your leaders, individuals, teams, partners and others show up on the trust meter?