Trust is the foundation to a strong team at the first dysfunction of a team. It affects everything up the chain in any company, ending with results.
Without trust, you are without results.
Why is this?
Without trust, your team will not be willing to engage in a healthy conflict which is dysfunction #2 that we will discuss next week.
As you must trust your teammates to be able to share your candid insights which sometimes will conflict with others on your team.
And that healthy conflict is a good thing.
Without trust, human nature will not engage in sharing true insights for fear of retribution as this is all tied to your ability to promote trust with your peers as a leader!
I’ll use a metaphor and tie this to free speech and why it’s so important in any society.
With free speech, the good ideas of any society eventually rise to the surface, and consequently, the bad ideas eventually die as more people engage.
The opposite is also true.
Want an example?
Think dictatorships without free speech and idea-sharing. This leads to silence due to fear of conflict and punishment..
Ultimately, this is the demise of any civilization and incredible oppression soon follows. History is riddled with examples.
On the contrary…
The idea of free speech, idea sharing, and consequently healthy conflict is absolutely necessary.
As when you have healthy conflict, which is a form of free speech, the best ideas eventually rise to the surface and bad ideas die, even though the conflict at the moment is uncomfortable.
Tying this back to your leadership…
As a leader and lesson today, you must create a culture of trust so that if you/your team speak your mind and even though there might be friction, it’s valued and there’s an understanding it’s healthy.
Want to build more trust?
Below is an exercise with our leadership team together last week at our EOS Annual.
I would highly encourage each department lead to set up an additional 90-minute meeting with your team to go through this exercise with the sole focus of building trust.
TRUST BUILDING
- Best childhood memory?
- What was your biggest hardship/challenge?
- What would you tell your 20-year-old self?
- How/why did you enter this career?
- How do you decompress?
- You’re Unique?
IMPROVEMENT BUILDING
- What’s the 1 thing that I admire most about you?
- What’s the 1 thing you need to start/stop doing because it’s hurting you more than helping you is?!..
PS if you disagree with me as your CEO, that’s totally ok and could be a good thing. In fact, you will at some point which is inevitable. As I will to you, just be respectful and know that your idea might not be acted upon due to a variety of factors. But also know that your ideas are valued, they will be considered and you should always feel empowered to speak your mind in our company. Onward!
