No 1. Trust Cultivate trust with skilled intention In our impatient quest for “results,” we too rarely invest the time or build the skills needed to develop enduring trust.
Trust is choosing to risk making something valuable to you vulnerable to another person’s actions.
Whatever matters to human beings, trust is the atmosphere in which it thrives. Sissela Bok
of Americans believe we trust each other less than we did 20 years ago.* 71%
Charles Feltman
Nothing meaningful improves without trust at the foundation Trust is a non-negotiable ingredient for change efforts to be successful long-term. The more complex the change, the more essential it is to build trust with those impacted. It is understandable how challenges facing communities across Georgia such as workforce shortages, an aging population, low literacy, youth disengagement, and deteriorating mental health can tempt leaders to rush past trust- building to “get sleeves rolled up,” but it does not end up saving time as stakeholders lose confidence, fall away, or sabotage change. The process of building trust - which takes place over time through intentional structured approaches to humanize every person and build muscle in empathy and perspective-taking - requires every person to experience being seen, heard, and understood. It takes in-person, one-on-one work. Trust-building is legitimate goal-accelerating work and demands skilled facilitation to draw it out.
Through our partnership with GLISI, leaders in our district developed their ability to think outside of the box or with a broader view which enhanced our culture by building trust. White County District Leader Honestly discussing the work helped us to self-reflect and be able to own our part of the problem, therefore hopefully opening the space to trust and
By The Numbers Our Impact
not get offended. LIT Cohort 1 Participant
100% of RETAIN participants reported their team’s trust strengthened
25 hours of 1-on-1 time cultivating trust between White County Superintendent and Aspiring Leaders
RETAIN by Building Trust
*Pew Research Center, Trust and Distrust in America, 2019
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator