Trust is something that is foundational to healthy leaders, healthy companies, and healthy relationships. But it is hard, especially in times where managers change yearly, communication is sporadic, and a self-preservation mindset still exists from the recent economic slump. In my experience dealing with companies that are growing or working with limited resources, I see lots of people working quickly and reacting more than thinking things through. When we are in that mode, our behaviors often erodes trust because we are defaulting to our most natural mode of behavior. Under stress, we have a diminished ability to flex our work style to best fit the situation or person. It is rarely intentional, but our actions send a negative message. In his book The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey makes the observation that “We judge ourselves based on our intentions, but we judge others on their actions”.
I call these actions TrustBUSTERS. What if we knew the Top 3 TrustBUSTERS for everyone we worked with and we were aware of the three things we did most often? How would that impact the trust on our team? Here is the list of TrustBUSTERS :
- Talks negatively about teammates behind their backs
- Unwilling to admit mistakes and apologize
- Slow to extend trust to others
- Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well
- Tells a lot, listens very little
- Criticizes decisions AFTER the team has discussed them and the decision has been made
- Values individual success over team goals
- Shows little/if any concern about me as a person
- Does not consistently follow through on commitments
- Asks team to make sacrifices ($ / time), but does not make same sacrifices
Have any to add?