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A Leadership Screw Driver: The 90 Day Improvement Plan
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to...
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Building Trust in the Workplace: A Valuable Topic for Leadership Training
Trust is the foundation of all successful interpersonal
relationships, both personal and business. Trust is the
confidence or belief a person feels toward a particular person
or group. Trust is, therefore, one of the primary binding forces
in any interpersonal relationship. It permits people to overcome
doubts and unknowns and enjoy peace of mind. The absence of
trust causes confusion, worry, inaction, and fear. When
interpersonal trust is present, a person feels a confidence that
everything will somehow work out. In the workplace, trust is a
prerequisite for effective interpersonal communications. Without
trust, employees may feel uncertainty, worry, and a sense of
insecurity. No relationship, personal or business, can exist for
even a short period of time if some element of trust is not
present. Trust is an essential leadership training ingredient
that binds any human relationship into an effective, working
partnership.
Even though trust is fundamental to human relationships, it is
actually misunderstood by many people. People use trust, or the
lack of it, to explain good and bad relationships with others.
Consider the cliché phrases: "Don't worry, you can trust me" and
"Just trust me." Trust has become both a buzzword and an excuse
in our society. Trust is as much abused as it is used in today's
business world. It is used to define and explain; yet few leadership
training programs have seriously considered what it is and
what it is not.
Psychologists are just beginning to learn how trust really
works. Research suggests that trusting relationships are
predictable, caring, and faithful. When a manager's behavior is
consistent over a period of time and another person can
reasonably predict that behavior, trust is possible. By
contrast, it is difficult to trust a person whose actions are
inconsistent or unpredictable.
Caring in a relationship involves actions that express
consideration toward the other person. Through effective
leadership training, a caring supervisor knows when final exams
are scheduled at the local college and asks employees who will
be taking the tests how much time off will be needed to study. A
caring supervisor finds out about a birth, death, anniversary,
graduation, or sickness and sends a card to the employee's home.
Faith is the belief that an employee's behavior will be in
direct response to the trust placed in that relationship. Faith
can be demonstrated by communicating clear expectations and then
telling the employee, "I know you and I believe you can
accomplish this assignment." Managers who have difficulty
demonstrating faith in others typically have difficulty trusting
them as well. Trust as a leadership
training component can help change this.
Building trust in the workplace is vital for a long-lasting,
satisfying, rewarding, and successful relationship. Leadership
training helps effective managers practice behaviors that
promote and build trusting relationships. They learn to do this
with consistent actions each day. In return they obtain the
benefits of high-trust employee relations. These benefits
include higher morale, increased initiative, improved honesty,
and better productivity. All are important
aspects of a
profitable and rewarding business experience. It's not uncommon
for people to use the word "trust" to describe a feeling they
have regarding some interpersonal relationships. Trust does not
magically appear in a relationship without certain elements
preceding it over time. And once trust has been breeched it is
difficult and sometimes impossible to establish once again.
Three steps pave the path before enduring trust begins. The
first step is effective communications. When we communicate
effectively with another person we have an opportunity to move
that relationship to the second step, which is real
understanding. That is when two people have communicated to the
point of honest and deep understanding. This can lead to the
third step in the relationship of mutual respect. A respecting
relationship demands that each person contribute enough respect
that it can be reciprocated back from the other person.
Unilateral respect in relationships is temporary and
superficial. Mutual respect that can lead to trust is much
deeper and must come from communicated understanding. Once a
relationship has experienced mutual respect it is possible for
the participants to experience enduring relational trust. This
is a feeling that binds people together over time and through
trials.
The four steps are dependent upon the actions or integrity of
the individuals involved. Integrity is not only keeping
agreements, but it is also "walking the talk." If, for example,
a person communicates deceitfully, how much understanding will
there be? And how much respect will the other person have?
Ultimately trust will be lacking.
Enduring trust is a leadership
training process that takes time and effort. It is clearly
the essence of what fuels meaningful relationships.
Test your Trust. Answer the following five statements on a scale
of 1 to 5, where 1 is not true and 5 is completely true.
1. My actions each day demonstrate that I trust my employees.
2. My employees can trust me with sensitive or private
information.
3. I would never betray a trust with an employee.
4. I keep confidences and would never share confidential
information inappropriately.
5. I am able to trust my employees.
Tally your scores from the five items. A total score of 20 to 25
would indicate that you and your employees probably share an
atmosphere of trust. A score of 15-19 would indicate that trust
is present, but not in abundance. A score of 14 or less probably
means that some additional leadership
training efforts in building trust would be appropriate.
To learn how leadership training programs and building trust in
the workplace can help your organization, contact a CMOE representative at
(801)569-3444
About the author:
Dr. Richard L.
Williams has conducted more than 6,000 workshops to more
than 250,000 managers and executives.
He specializes in building trust in the workplace, leadership
training and development, performance coaching, and quality
improvement.
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