Leiderschap staat of valt met vertrouwen. Met nog veel meer dingen, maar dit is voor mij de basis. Als je leiding geeft, dan zal je dit herkennen. Herkennen wat er gebeurt als er vertrouwen is. En wat er gebeurt als er geen vertrouwen is. In jezelf. In de relatie met de ander. In het team. In de organisatie.
Hoe zit het met jouw vertrouwen vandaag? Wat speelt er in of rondom jou in het thema vertrouwen? En gaat het dan om vertrouwen in jezelf of vertrouwen in de ander?
Als je dit leest en een leidinggevende hebt, dan zal het thema vertrouwen je ook niet vreemd zijn. Vertrouw je je hem/haar? Sta er eens even 5 minuten bij stil hoe het thema vertrouwen speelt met jouw leidinggevende.
En als jij als leidinggevende en jij met een leidinggevende nu nog een keer even naar binnen kijken? IN jezelf? Wat gebeurt er dan in jou met dit thema vertrouwen? Vertrouw je jezelf? Waar blijkt dat uit? Ben je betrouwbaar voor de ander? Waar blijkt dat uit?
Allemaal vragen die je eens kan onderzoeken in jezelf en in de relatie met de ander. Vragen die interessant zijn rondom het thema vertrouwen. Met plezier pak ik de boeken van Lencioni en Covey er weer even bij als ik met dit thema aan de slag ga bij organisaties. Waarom? Omdat ze de relevantie van Vertrouwen en ook de manier waarop dat werkt geduid hebben. Hierbij wat relevante highlights. Ik deel het graag met je. In het Engels. Met dank aan collega Karin in London!
Uit: The five dysfunctions of a team, Lencioni
- Trust is never generated when the team members are nor prepared to be vulnerable. Instead, they feel the need to be right, to be strong and competent.
- Trust requires that team members have confidence in each other intentions, that they are safe and have no reason to be protective and careful in the team.
- The primary role of the leader is to lead by example, be the first one to be vulnerable, and create an environment where it is safe to be vulnerable.
- Trust is the foundation and it makes conflict possible. Teams tend to avoid conflict often replacing it with an artificial harmony.
- Leaders need to encourage debate, support it and keep it productive. The best way to do is for a leader to lead by example, modelling the appropriate behaviours.
5 ways to build trust in a team
- Set clear expectations (individual and team: foundation for trust without hidden agendas)
- Demonstrate your reliability (doing what you promised)
- Create dependency (a challenge, a specific result: trusting becomes a vital part in a successful outcome)
- Being supportive (people need to step out of their comfort zone and take changes. Safety is created when people (team members) are supportive of each other. Supportiveness re-enforces safety and builds trust)
- Create mutual accountability (team holds itself accountable for what is achieved individually and as a collective: it is a vital part in building trust)
Uit: The speed of Trust, Covey & Merrill
- The number one job of any leader is to inspire trust
- When you build trust with one, you build trust with many
- Trust is a function of both character and competence
- Trust is one of the most powerful forms of motivation and inspiration.
The 5 waves of trust
- Self trust (credibility) (*)
- Relationship trust (consistent behaviour) (**)
- Organisational trust (alignment)
- Market trust (reputation)
- Societal trust (contribution)
(*) Self trust (credibility) is about
- Your integrity (are you congruent? walk your talk, telling the truth, honesty, courage to do what is right. Violation of integrity = massive violation of trust). Increase your integrity: be open, stand for something, make and keep commitments to yourself
- Your intent (motive, agenda, behaviour. Motive is your reason for doing something, genuine caring inspires the greatest trust. Agenda grows out of motive. The agenda that inspires the greatest trust is seeking mutual benefit. Behaviour is manifestation of motive and agenda. Behaviour that inspires trust is acting in the best interest of others. To improve intent: refine your motives, declare your intent, choose win-win)
- Your capabilities (talents, skills, knowledge, etc.: all we have to perform with excellence.
- Your results (what’s your track record.)
(**) Relationship trust (consistent behaviour) has 13 behaviours
- Talk straight (be honest, tell the truth, demonstrate integrity, use simple language)
- Demonstrate respect (show kindness, demonstrate caring an concern, give acknowledgement, take nothing for granted, recognise the contributions made by everyone on the team)
- Create transparency (be open, real, genuine, everything is out in the open)
- Right wrongs (make things right when you are wrong, apologize quickly, don’t cover up)
- Show loyalty (give credits to others, never gossip)
- Deliver results (make a commitment, make sure it is realistic)
- Get better (seek to get better (2 strategies: seek feedback and learn from mistakes)
- Confront reality (face the tough issues head on, lead courageously in conversation)
- Clarify expectations (create shared vision, reveal expectations, clarify and check
- Practice accountability (hold yourself and others accountable)
- Listen first (listen before you speak)
- Keep commitments (keeping commitments is the quickest way to build trust in any relationship)
- Extend trust (extend trust abundantly)
Restoring Trust when it has been lost?
- The path to restoration is to increase personal credibility and behave in ways that inspire trust
- A lose of trust created by a violation of character is more difficult to restore a loss of trust created by a violation of competence
- Give others the benefit of the doubt: a failure of competence is not automatically a failure of character
- We need to forgive first in order to move on