The Speed of Trust - Page 4
The Five Waves of Trust
1
13 Behaviors
Talk straight
Consistent behavior
2 Relationship trust
Always be honest and up-front about what you’re thinking. Tell the truth and let people know where you stand without putting any spin on it. If you make your agenda clear and call things as they are, you demonstrate personal integrity and build trust. In business, it’s often easy to manipulate a situation by leaving out the parts of the story which are embarrassing. This distorts things and creates an environment where everything takes longer than it should. Avoid that by getting to the point quickly, by making your points simply in plain language and by letting everyone know where you stand. “The people who I have trouble dealing with are people who tend to not give full information. They purposefully leave out certain parts of the story – they distort facts.” – Shelley Lazarus, chairman and CEO, Oglivy & Mather
Relationship trust essentially boils down to a matter of how you establish and subsequently increase the virtual trust accounts you have with other people. The key here is to act consistently at all times and in all circumstances. High-trust leaders consistently exhibit 13 Behaviors, each of which can be learned and then applied by everyone in order to generate trust.
1 Talk straight
8 Confront reality
13 Behaviors
Show respect
2
9 State expectations
Be transparent
3
10 Be accountable
4 Right wrongs
Listen first
11
2 Show respect
13 Behaviors
5 Show loyalty
12 Meet commitments
Respect the dignity and feelings of everyone you come into contact with. The mark of a great person is he or she treats everyone even-handedly, especially those who will never be in a position to do something for them. Show kindness in your personal interactions. Showing respect requires that you do the little things well. Simply saying “please” and “thank you” are factors. You have to be genuine and consistent. This is one area in particular where you can’t act one way at home and a completely different way at the office. There must be absolute consistency for trust to grow. Don’t fake caring for people, but be genuine. “I try to treat people as human beings. If they know you care, it brings out the best in them.” – Richard Branson, founder and chairman, The Virgin Group
6 Deliver results
Extend trust
13
7 Get better
Once you trust yourself, you then start learning how to interact with others in ways that will increase rather than destroy trust. What you actually do matters far more than what you say. Good behavior builds trust and validates your personal value system whereas saying one thing but doing another dilutes trust.
1
Credibility
3
13 Behaviors
Be transparent
2 Consistent behavior
If you’re completely open about the facts, you can build trust fast. Always tell the truth in ways people can verify for themselves. If there is a question, err on the side of disclosing too much rather than too little. This is the only way you can demonstrate to everyone there are no hidden agendas at work here. People naturally distrust what they can’t see. Offset that by opening the books and showing you have nothing to hide. Transparency makes great sense from a business perspective because you don’t have to waste time or energy maintaining appearances. Be known for: “What you see is what you get.” “We adopted a philosophy that we wouldn’t hide anything, not any of our problems, from the employees.” – Rollin King, founder, Southwest Airlines
There are 13 Behaviors which high-trust leaders and other high performers throughout the world tend to use to behave consistently. If you can pick up on these behaviors, the same benefits can accrue to you as well as you increase trust. In talking about these behaviors, keep in mind two key points: 1. For each of these behaviors, there is a “sweet spot”. Any strength can become a weakness when taken to an extreme. Too much of a good thing can be just as damaging as too little. Always look for that sweet spot. 2. A good mental model to use for visualizing the impact of these 13 Behaviors is to think in terms of “Trust Accounts”. Every time you behave in a way which builds trust, you make a deposit into that trust account. Similarly, every time you behave in a way which destroys trust, you in effect make a withdrawal from that same trust account. The challenge is to do those things which will increase the balance in your accounts. “It takes twenty years to build your reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” – Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
4 Right wrongs
13 Behaviors
When you end up being wrong, work very hard at making things right. Acknowledge your errors, apologize and make restitution where possible. If a customer is involved, provide them with exceptionally generous “service recovery” packages. People will respect your willingness to set things right almost as much as they will admire your confidence and candor in accepting responsibility for the problem.
“Trust is established through action.” – Hank Paulson, chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs
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