Take Action to Build Trust

Many businesses and organizations struggle because of breakdowns in trust. It's often the first issue work groups raise when they are trying to improve their effectiveness.

Recent corporate breaches of trust in energy companies, telecommunication businesses, and others, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars in market value, demonstrate the importance of trust to the bottom line. Employees, business partners, and investors want to know what information they can have faith in. If they can't trust a company's financial reports or business decisions, the company takes a huge hit.

Although much attention is directed toward devising a winning strategy or a new marketing campaign, relatively little attention gets focused on the key issue of trust. There are certain factors that erode trust and practical strategies for rebuilding it.

Missteps Erode Trust

Some of what erodes trust is intentional—dishonesty, misinformation, and greed. More often, however, actions of well-meaning people create misunderstandings. For example, an overwhelmed staff member doesn't deliver a report when promised and doesn't let others know in advance that a delay is likely. Such an erosion of trust is entirely preventable.

Similarly, misunderstandings about roles or agreements cause breakdowns of trust. People too often fail to take the few minutes necessary to summarize what they've agreed to do, why they are doing it, how they'll get it done, who else will participate, and the time frame for completion. As a result, participants tend to leave meetings with widely different understandings about what will happen. In some cases, because they haven't thought through the resources needed to complete the task and the potential impact on other priorities, what they discussed is more of a wish than a real commitment.

A failure to execute and deliver on a commitment can lead people to question other people's motives. This can start an organization down the slippery slope of distrust. As frustration mounts, threats and personal attacks often ensue.

Practical Steps Rebuild Trust

Small actions and consistent behavior restore trust. If you are unsure about whether you can support another person's point of view or request, take the time to listen and reflect back what you hear. Be sure that you understand the other person's perspective before responding. When you hear and acknowledge someone else, you lay the foundation for trust.

Be candid about your own thoughts and concerns while avoiding any personal attacks. The best strategy for this is to use only "I" statements. That is, say only what you observe or feel about the issue without questioning the other person's motives or personal worth.

Next, be very clear about your agreements. If you are having misunderstandings, take time to write out what you intend to do and how you'll communicate about progress along the way. Do this at the start. Be candid about what's realistic, what you can and can't do, and how you'll deal with uncertainties. Such actions build trust and produce successful results.

Finally, take part in outside activities with the people with whom you are building trust. Take field trips, share a meal, or find other ways to become better acquainted. The leader of a feuding group took his colleagues on a backcountry ride to see key project sites. "After ten hours bouncing around in a Bronco together," he explained, "barriers came down."

Identify those with whom you need to develop a stronger level of trust in your business or organization. Schedule the time and take the steps to fulfill this important priority.

Trust in the Ten-Step Process

Being able to truly trust another person takes time. In fast-changing environments, you may have little time to reach desirable levels of personal trust. Trusting in and adhering to the ten-step process provides a critically important bridge. Members of a business or community group may not trust or even know the other participants, but they can trust the ten-step process to enable them to get results together.

The process addresses the factors that erode people's trust. It eliminates disrespectful and personal attacks, partisan agendas, and fuzzy agreements that lack commitment. It invites honesty, respect for other points of view, and a commitment to shared hopes. The ten-step process involves everyone and enables them to learn from one another. It also builds the consistency and confidence that trust requires. The techniques outlined in this chapter can be implemented immediately to dissolve old differences. As you go through the process, you will build trust along the way.

BE AN AGENT OF HOPE

Many opportunities exist to dissolve long-standing differences. Rather than "working" on the problems, which often just heightens the irritation, like rubbing salt in an open wound, look for creative and playful ways to change the dynamics and help participants recognize new possibilities.^[1]

^[1]The clues to the Balance Nails game are: (1) Create alignment; (2) Balance your heads; (3) Reinforce alignment; (4) Think 3-D.