Three pillars of trust critical to a high-performing culture [Template]

I have a personal rule when I coach a client. The second the contract is signed, the "you" becomes "we."

When a CEO needs to prepare for a difficult conversation with an employee, we work through how to have it. When the profitability isn't where a CEO wants it, we must diagnose why. For now, we're on a mission together.

I developed this habit under the principle, warranted or not, that we are in it together, and if you don't let me in, I can't help you.

Why have I found it to be helpful? Because most clients are skeptical of me before we start. I get it. You're the star player. I need to earn the most critical relational principle from you, which is trust.

"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don't think 'I.' They think 'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit.... This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done." --Peter Drucker, author of Managing for the Future

Trust is the mortar bonding the cobblestones of your culture. How can we, as CEOs, create an environment of trust in our companies while not shying away from conflict?

Conflict management research confirms that an environment where people feel safe and secure to engage in conflict directly contributes to its successful management. Take note, it doesn't say shy away from conflict.  

"People follow leaders by choice. Without trust, at best, you get compliance." --Jesse Lyn Stoner, author of Full Steam Ahead

Dennis and Michelle Reina, authors of the book Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace, outline three types of trust necessary for successful cultures.

1. Trust of Character

This area of trust is rooted in questions. Is the person who they say they are? Do you trust the intentions behind what they are doing? Mistakes are okay until you begin questioning the motives of the person making them. If you have an employee working for you whose character you do not trust, it's impossible to establish the trust required.  

"At my company, I must first trust who you are, before I trust what you can do." -KC 🧢

Question for you: "Do I trust who this person is apart from how they can perform?"

2. Trust in Communication

Have you ever told someone something in confidence and had them blab about it to one of their friends? That's an example of a breach of trust in communication. In a culture with communication trust, everyone is comfortable that people will share appropriate information, be truthful, and keep private information confidential. In a remote culture, this is extremely difficult as communication can be fractured into multiple mediums or hidden in private slack channels.

"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." --Albert Einstein

Question for you: "Is this someone I trust with my emotional and professional insecurities, and are they willing to entrust me with theirs?"

3. Trust of Capability

Have you ever hired someone only to realize months later they don't have the capability you hired them for? This trust is rooted in competence and is the leading cause of cultural problems with a developing CEO. As CEOs, we think we can do it better than anyone, and our knee-jerk reaction to any incompetence is to grab the steering wheel back from the person and "just do it ourselves."

In some instances, inappropriate breaches occur, and people are dishonest, but in most instances, the CEO needs to work on establishing the trust of capability. How can you do it? Through coaching your team members. Coaching someone you're paying to be the expert is paradoxical. I get it. But you have a preference of how you'd like it done, and they're responsible for doing it, so even if they've done it somewhere else before, every company has a different standard. Teach them yours.

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." --Booker T. Washington

Question for you: "Do I have the confidence that this person can deliver on the promises they have made me?"

A good exercise, once you've answered the above questions, is to ask them of each member of your team. If there is any gap in trust, meet it head-on. There may be circumstances where you trust the character and trust the communication, but the capability is no longer there. That is an example of a "culture fit" that the company has outgrown.  

Here's a template you can use and audit quarterly: Cultural Trust Assessment

A critical element I work on with CEOs is how to establish and maintain trust while scaling. It isn't easy, but without it, you won't get to the top of the mountain.  

With purpose,

KC Holiday  

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