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Build the trust first
Written by: Renée LeMoine
Photo by: Vìroslav Sixt
A medium-sized company with decreasing
sales and high staff turnover was looking for a quick fix. After
assessing their predicament, I realized that as a result of a changed
corporate strategy, the staff had completely distanced themselves
from the management, and neither side trusted the other.
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My suggestion was to pick one strategy, and stick with it - focus
on wooing back the team to a position of trust. They needed each
other to implement a workable strategy, because staff had pertinent
information about their clients' needs, and management had the experience
to make the offers.
Part of a leader's task is to work with the team to find and solve
problems. A leader's ability to "gain access to the knowledge
and creative thinking for solving problems depends on how much they
are trusted. Trust and trust-worthiness modulate the leader's access
to knowledge and cooperation." Reversing distrust isn't easy,
but it is possible. It starts with consistent, sincere, and clearly
executed actions.
- Fairness and openness is essential. Leaders have
to keep people informed, explain the rationale for their decisions,
be frank about problems, and give credit when it's due.
- Consistency is requisite. The staff will mistrust
you if they don't know what you expect from them, understand how
to proceed, or fear retribution for actions they performed without
direction. If you tell them, "just do a good job," without
defining what that means and how to achieve it, you can't be disappointed
when they come back with different results than you expected.
- Truth and integrity is compulsory. It is impossible
to expect staff to be open and honest with you and your customers,
if they understand that you have been keeping pertinent information
from them, or see you take credit for work that was done by others.
- Confidence is vital. The staff will respect you
for being discreet and not discussing their private issues with
others.
Article prepared by Renée LeMoine, Executive Director, LeMoine
& Associates
This is one of a four-part leadership series; the first
based upon F. Bartolomé's, "Nobody Trusts the Boss Completely
- Now What?" Harvard Business Review, March-April 1989, pp.
135-142.
We welcome feedback and suggestions for
management topics which are of interest to you. Please submit your
questions or comments to: coachingcorner@prague-tribune.cz.
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