Building Trust

At the AHRI conference last week, one of the presenters, Peter Fuda, spoke about a simple equation he had discovered to identify how to build trust.

Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy
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Self Interest

REFLECTIONS

Credibility : This is the reputation you bring. Do you have a reputation for consistency, transparency, openness, etc? What do people say about you when discussing you with others? What preconceptiosn will people ahve about you who haven't met you?

Reliability : Do your words and actions always match? What have your people SEEN you do as opposed to HEARD you say? Are you a WYSIWYG [What you see is what you get?]

Intimacy : How much of you do you let others see? Can they get beneath a facade? Do your people feel they know the real you? CAn they feel close to you as a person?

Self Interest : All of the above are then filtered through a screen of " What does this mean for ME? " How do you communicate to people how an idea / initiative / change impacts on them personally? How can you tap into thjis self interst to ensure it isn't too big a denominator to turn the equation into a negative?

CHALLENGE

The challenge for us all is to do the sums for ourselves. What will our equation be : a positive or a negative.?

Every situation will have a different equation as will every person with whom you are trying to build trust .

So pick a couple of key people and situations and do the equation

• What is my reputation for this person?
• How reliable have I been for them?
• How much do they see me as a person?
• what are the self interest issues for them
• What is the sum of the current equation for them?
• How can I influence this sum to be more positive?

As always, I look forward to your thoughts and ideas on this

Dulise

Credible Leaders Listen and LEarn

In times of stress,turbulence and when feeling challenged, we tend to be at our most fragile. However as leaders that is probably the most critical time for us to seek out and really listen to the thoughts, ideas and , yes, even the unwelcome messages, our people wish to share with us. Following is a quote from a pair of eminent researchers and consultants in the field of transformation and leadership which focuses on this issue. It certainly was a useful reminder to me to not become bunkered down when I am overwhelmed with client needs, but to actively seek out their thoughts and messages – tough or welcome!

THOUGHT
Impressive listening skills have been identified as one common characteristic of credible leaders. A willingness to listen carefully to constituents and, if necessary, to hear the bad news keeps leaders from being isolated from critical feedback.
When they can get information from a variety of sources, across functions and levels, they are able to know what is going on. To serve others well, leaders
must be in touch with them, listen to them, and respect them. Ever try getting good service at a restaurant when your waiter or waitress is never around, is too busy, or seems to think something you have asked for was too much bother?

Being able to listen to the news, good and bad, is a basic ingredient for staying in touch. When things are going well, it's not all that difficult to hear the good news. It's how we react to news about mistakes and difficulties that may be the better indicator of whether or not constituents feel like keeping us in touch. From the constituent's perspective, the question is always, "Did they still shoot the messenger with bad news?"

Source: Credibility by Kouzes and Posner

REFLECTION

What proactive steps did you take over the last ten days to seek out what your teams had to say?
What is your default method of dealing with the hard messages some wish to give?
What would your teams say about your willingness to not only hear what they say but to actually seek out this discussion?
What specific actions do you take regularly to ensure you “are in touch with them, listen to them, and respect them”?

CHALLENGE

Identify one concrete action you can take within the next 48 hours to actively show your people you want and will respect, their feedback / thoughts.
Review your existing communication strategies [or develop one] for you and your team that ensures you provide opportunities for them to actively engage in sharing their thoughts and ideas on a broad range of topics. This is beyond quick practical problem solving team meetings but moves into engaging them as true partners in achieving goals.

I would love to hear how you go with this challenge and your personal reflections on this topic

D