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By Phil Eastman
In last month's newsletter, I wrote an article called Shared Trust, based on one of the essential elements of our High Performance Team model. In the article we examined the idea that fractured trust is an enormous challenge that keeps teams from achieving excellence. Needless to say, the article was the reason for some of you to write and ask the next logical question which is "how do you build trust in a new relationship or re-build trust once it has been fractured." Building or rebuilding trust requires talking and thinking about it in new ways. The Enron scandal is a poignant example of what
happens when trust has been violated. Lives were altered
dramatically for everyone whether they were directly
involved or not. On the other hand, we all have
experienced the benefits that authentic trust brings to
solid relationships. Simply put, authentic trust is
negotiating, making and then honoring specific
commitments.
In his book, Building Trust, Fernando Flores and
Robert Solomon outline the different forms of trust we
progress through within relationships until we reach what
I consider to be the ideal, authentic trust.
"All forms of trust involve relationships and interaction with
other people, but in authentic trust it is the relationship
itself that is the focus of attention. . .Authentic trust is trust
that is well aware of the risks, dangers, and liabilities of
trust but maintains the self-confidence to trust
nevertheless." writes Flores. Hence, authentic trust may
be easier to explain through its characteristics and
conditions, rather than its definition.
Authentic trust is open, adventurous, and innovative. It
reaches for the future, and incorporates the possibility of
distrust. Its critical concern is on commitment not
comfort. Authentic trust is not a matter of predictability nor
is there a set path or recipe for achieving it perfectly. It is
trust with its eyes wide open!
Fernando Flores states, "Trusting is a choice, a decision,
and authentic trusting takes into primary account the way
the relationship will change as the result of that choice."
Consequently, trusting changes both the person trusted
and the person who trusts. When trust is fractured,
authentic trust is willing to and by necessity must confront
the other person. "Trust does not require agreement. It
requires commitment and authenticity."
I have to admit, that is easier to write about than to
perform, but nonetheless that is what it takes to build,
maintain, deepen, or rebuild trust within the relationship.
Authentic trust is not developed through a "laisser-faire"
attitude, instead it is an articulated trust; a trust that is put
into words. It is important to both parties and makes
aware their obligations and responsibilities within the
relationship, whether at home or at work.
You may have had this experience where you wanted to
have a conversation about trust with someone and they
dismissed it by saying, "Whatever! I trust you, we can talk
about anything." Although it sounds nice, this statement
is cordially hypocritical. Cordial hypocrisy is the polite
agreement to undertake a task or obligation that one is not
really committed or competent to perform. We all do it!
We agree to something that we don't want to do or worse,
we can't actually do. In short, cordial hypocrisy fractures
trust.
Authentic trust is a skill to be learned with a return on
investment that can match its effort. The son of Stephen
R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, Stephen M.R. Covey states in his
newest book, The Speed of Trust, "Trust always
affects two outcomes, speed and cost. When trust goes
down, speed will also go down and cost will go up. When
trust goes up, speed will go up and costs will go down."
I alluded earlier to fractured trust within Enron. That
corporate scandal with several others ushered in the era
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. No doubt it has a positive
effect in improving the public's trust, it is also clear that it
comes with a sustaining price. The amount of time it
takes to follow the regulations and the added cost of doing
so is considerable. The cost of broken trust is very high
for society in cases like Enron. The same can be said
about your organization. When trust is broken the cost of
doing business goes up.
As a leader you can foster the development of authentic
trust by negotiating, making and then keeping specific
commitments to another individual or group. These three
simple but very difficult steps will foster authentic trust in
your organization. The results of authentic trust will be a
more efficient, productive environment that captures the
best you're your team has to offer.
Phil Eastman is the founder and
president of
Leadership Advisors Group, a Boise-based
consulting firm. Phil combines more than 25
years of leadership experience with his passion
for consulting, coaching, and teaching to develop
leaders, build teams, and improve performance.
It is his desire to enhance leadership
effectiveness for all of his clientele.
Phil earned a Bachelors of Business Administration
degree in Management and Organization from Idaho State
University. He is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking
School at the University of Washington where he is also
an instructor. Phil also holds a Master of Arts degree in
Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary.
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by Lorene Rasmussen
Unimagined Possibilities! It's hard to believe how far I have come and the things I've done since January. Along this journey, I have run in Argentina, over a mountain, and around the periphery of an island off the coast of Anacortes, WA. I've learned how to spit and how to use a men's room (discreetly in the event of an emergency). I've completed 2 - half marathons, a 10K, and 100's of training miles. Since the first day of running, I have drank gallons of
water, eaten nutritionally dense food and modified my gait.
I've lost ten pounds and discovered there were some
muscles hiding underneath nature's padding (fat). I have
met some amazing people with whom I've
had great conversations. I have inspired at
least 5 people to begin running again and many more
have started thinking about how to "get off the couch."
More importantly, I've learned that behind all my old
excuses there is a grand-mom with unlimited
enthusiasm!
Now with less than 120 days left until the Marine Corps
Marathon, I have to take my training commitment up a
notch in order to increase the run/walk mileage. We are
now measuring our runs in hours instead of minutes. The
amount of changes I've made in my training since January
have been huge, but this next level will be colossal, as I
intensify my mileage, hydration, and fuel intake.
Have you ever asked the question, "How can I trust
myself?" It's certainly something I ask myself regularly.
Can I trust myself to get up when then alarm goes off in
the morning? Usually. Can I trust myself to say the right
thing? Not always. Can I trust myself to eat extra
chocolate? Most definitely. Can I trust myself to pay
taxes? Yes. Can I trust myself to properly hydrate, fuel,
and put in the run/walk mileage in order to "cross the
finish line, injury free, and with a smile"? Well. . . so
far I can.
During a conversation regarding trust, I told Phil, "I trust
you more than I trust myself because I know what I am
capable of." With a sheepish grin, he said, "That may be
true of all of us; we all know what we are capable of.
However, you have to trust yourself before you can trust
someone else." That simple statement became the
catalyst for this article.
In his book, Building Trust, Fernando Flores
states, "Self-trust as a cultivated skill consists of
both "automatic" behavior on the one hand and thoughtful
reflection on the other." He goes on to say that, "Self-trust
is confidence in our possession of those skills. . .learned
over time, like a well-trained athlete; one makes the right
moves, usually without much reflection.
Flores likens self-trust to one's own body. "Physical trust
is, for most of us, a basic form of self-trust. . .as much as
running a marathon - presume skills and confidence in
those skills that typically come to our attention only when
we are first learning them or when they start to break
down," states Flores.
As a newbie to the running world and certainly to the idea
of running 26.2 consecutive miles, I'm still not sure if I can
trust myself to accomplish the immense task at hand.
Philosophers tell us that self-trust includes
building self-confidence through personal responsibility,
commitment, and the ability to make changes where it is
necessary.
According to Fernando Flores, "Self-trust is a matter of
trusting ourselves to do what we have. . .trained ourselves
to do. Some people think that self-trust means the
absence of all fear and anxiety, (with) total self-
confidence, but they are
wrong. Fear and anxiety are indications of uncertainty,
and trust involves uncertainty. . . the absence of fear and
anxiety may indicate indifference or ignorance or simple
trust that is devastated when we fail ourselves."
Originally, I asked, How can I trust myself where the
rubber meets the road; to "cross the finish line, injury
free, and with a smile"? So far, I guess I can; if I
continue
to take personal responsibility for proper training and
make a healthy commitment toward the intensified
mileage, hydration, and fuel intake my body needs.
Finally, I must be willing to trust myself to weather future
changes in order to complete the race.
How Can I Trust Myself? is #6 in a series of
articles that
will be featured throughout 2007 in The Leadership
Advisor. In July, I want to focus on some of the races I
have accomplished and perhaps dive into the mind of
a "real runner."
Lorene Rasmussen is the Partner for
Business Operations which guides and supports
the daily and strategic operations of Leadership
Advisors Group. She combines a unique sense of
fun and organization to insure operations "run/walk"
smoothly and that clients receive the highest
quality service possible.
Lorene earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in marketing from Boise State University and is a certified Life Coach through Genesis Enterprises in Seattle, Washington. Lorene earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in marketing from Boise State University and is a certified Life Coach through Genesis Enterprises in Seattle, Washington. Lorene is learning to trust herself more and more each day with less than 120 days from MCM 2007. |
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"A great leader makes room for something more, something "extraordinary" with rich possibilities for the future."
 Phil Eastman & Lorene Rasmussen
Leadership Advisors Group
email:
phil@leadershipadvisors.com
phone:
(208) 344-0471
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