Building Trust

The head of ElectroScientific once said, "Trust is the grease that keeps an organization going."  Trust is a key factor needed for effective leadership.

What if you woke up one morning to find your hard-earned retirement savings just went up in smoke—worthless. The Enron fiasco had a greater impact than most people realize. Because of Enron, managers and executives now face greater scrutiny and have a harder time proving their trustworthiness.

This fact is highlighted in a survey conducted by Chart Your Course International. People were asked, "Who do you trust more?" They considered seven different professions. The scorings were ranked in the following order. (1=high trust - 7=low trust)

The rankings are shown below:

1) Firefighter/Police Officer

2) Physician

3) Small Business Owner

4) Military Officer

5) Corporate Executive

6) Attorney

7) Elected Official

Trust Has Become a Challenge

Leadership and trust go hand-in-hand. Whether you are a minister or a corporate CEO, you cannot expect people to trust you--you have to prove it first.  We have become skeptical and callous.

"In God we trust, all others bring data"

Furthermore, maintaining trust is like walking on eggs—slow going and easily crushed. Even before Enron, my experience as a management consultant shows many executives unintentionally damage their credibility and trust. Here are some ways to maintain a high trust level within your organization.

·         Your personal life is your public life. Your personal life reflects who you really are. If you are in a leadership position, your personal life is open to scrutiny. Your ability to lead others will increase if people respect you. You may not like it, but that is the way it is.

·         Do what you say you will do. How many times has someone told you, "I’ll get back to you on that," but never followed up? Don’t make promises you can’t or won’t keep. Trust breaks down when promises are broken.

·         Tell the truth. The worst thing you can do is to not be open and honest with people. Trying to hide information will always catch up with you. Tell people everything they need to know, even if it’s bad news. It’s better to say too much than too little.

·         Treat everyone with respect. You may not like everyone you work with, but you must treat them as if you do. People want to feel they have value and worth as individuals. Give everyone a chance to improve and attempt to understand and place their interests first.

·         Show appreciation. Surprise people by doing something unexpected for them. When you see one of your employees doing something good, write a note of appreciation or walk up and just tell them. They will appreciate you and trust you more.

·         Avoid favoritism. Don’t turn to the same person for help over and over again. Train and develop all your employees so everyone has equal opportunity to prove themselves and the workload is shared equally. Insure all people of color are fairly represented at all levels of the organization and provided the same opportunity for advancement.

·         Consistently enforce the rules. Eliminate unnecessary rules, regulations, and policies, and enforce all the rest. When you selectively enforce policies, mistrust increases. No matter how clear the rules seem to you, everyone has a different perception. What appears unnecessary to you is important to someone else. Either enforce it or eliminate it.

·         Treat people as equals. Because of the Enron scandal, there will be more pressure on boards and executives to give all employees the same privileges normally reserved for executives. If executives can sell their stock options, why can’t other employees? Privileges and perks will be under greater scrutiny by both the media and rank and file.

·         Don’t tell jokes at others’ expense. Telling jokes is a good way to lower your trust quotient. The most harmless joke will offend someone. Even Dilbert cartoons damage the credibility and trustworthiness of management. They create a perception that all managers are stupid.

Greg Smith's cutting-edge keynotes, consulting, and training programs have helped businesses reduce turnover, increase sales, hire better people and deliver improved customer service. As President of Chart Your Course International, he has designed and implemented professional development programs for hundreds of organizations globally. He is a former examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest award for business excellence. He has authored eight books including his latest, 401 Proven Ways to Retain Your Best Employees. For more information, visit www.chartcourse.com or call (800) 821-2487 or (770) 860-9464.