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The secret ingredient

Trust is the secret ingredient in the leader’s capacity to release their team’s potential and effectiveness, investment of commitment and discretionary effort, and the boosting of retention and motivation.

So secret, in fact, that a surprising number of leaders and managers seem not to realise the impact of their behaviour on trust, and the consequences of either reinforced or damaged trust.

Trust and the contract

The employee, the client or the supplier who finds that their trust is justified in their employer, in the business they’re buying from, or in their client, is far more likely to stay loyal, and to invest emotion and energy, than those whose trust is betrayed, or for whom the psychological contract (the unwritten and often unarticulated set of expectations that people have about their employment or purchasing relationship) is broken. This often has greater impact than the formal, written contract.

Expectations

When we enter into a contract, whether that’s a formal employment contract, the purchase of a product or service, or the agreement to provide goods or services, we unconsciously or consciously hold expectations: we expect that the contract will be adhered to, at the very least. We expect integrity, consistency, reliability, competence, commitment and honesty.

Trust is damaged when the contract is not respected

Trust is a fragile commodity. It’s damaged when the contract is not respected and/or there is abuse of goodwill, when people feel exploited, disrespected or manipulated, when they have a sense that there’s a hidden agenda, or when they start to question what they had taken for granted about integrity.

This is not a momentary event: when trust is dented, the impact is likely to continue – and it’s difficult to change. People begin to feel uncertain, unsafe, overly cautious or insecure. Their energy is diffuse instead of being focused. Motivation shrinks, and because of that, performance may be restrained, constrained or diminished, and commitment may be short-lived or superficial.

One of my clients developed a critical lack of trust in his line manager and his organisation because of a lack of consistency, unclear and changing expectations, and mixed messages about his level of authority. Three years on from joining the organisation this senior leader felt crushed, unacknowledged and uncertain about his place.

Trusting yourself

Trust in oneself is an equally important facet. Another of my clients – stellar in terms of intelligence and capability – lacked trust in herself and was struggling to be taken seriously in her male-dominated environment. She came to the realisation that she wasn’t taken seriously because she didn’t take herself seriously: only when she began to find her own authority, and trust it, did things start to change.

When the contract is respected

Conversely, when both types of contract are respected, the employee’s performance often takes a step up, the client invests in purchases more than they may have done, and the supplier goes above and beyond.

Remember, too, that trust – and the lack of it – are viral: whether trust is present or not, the feeling spreads throughout the team, the department and the organisation.

Trust and transition

Trust is especially important at a time of transition, when the foundations of new relationships are being established, or the foundations of existing relationships are adapting to a new situation.

A leader arriving in a new role needs to establish trust with their new team and with their new line manager. At a time when they feel uncertain or vulnerable in their new environment, establishing – and maintaining – trust both upwards and downwards is a vital focus to adopt from the beginning so that engagement grows and sustains.

A coach or consultant starting work with a new organisation or a new coaching client needs to establish their credibility, their reliability, their competence and their integrity. They need to be clear with themselves and their client about what they have contracted, and its implications, and about their expectations.

A client organisation contracting for goods or services also needs to be clear what they have contracted for, and they need to nurture the symbiotic relationship between themselves and the supplier in a careful dance of reciprocity, investment in the relationship, honesty and openness. The most successful relationships of this kind rest on high trust, flexibility and generosity.

Your leadership

Spend a moment looking at your leadership and your followership through the lens of trust. What do you see? A trusting team or a team that lacks trust? What small step could you take to improve things by just a little?

As a leader, you ignore the repercussions of trust at your peril.

Photo by Amtec Photos via Compfight

Trust and transition

Trust is a fragile commodity, and is damaged when the psychological contract (even more than the formal contract) is not respected and/or there is abuse of goodwill, when people feel exploited, disrespected or manipulated, when they have a sense that there’s a hidden agenda, or when they start to question what they had taken for granted about integrity. The outcome may be reduced motivation, performance that is restrained, constrained or diminished, and commitment that is short-lived or superficial. When trust is justified, discretionary effort, engagement and motivation are sustained and built. This is all highly relevant at a time of transition. As a leader you ignore the impact of trust at your peril.

Leading through systemic complexity

The task of leadership in our time is increasingly often described as complex – and leaders are often challenged as to how to deal with it. Leaders whom I work with arrive sooner or later at the realisation that question(s) they bring to coaching are either obviously or surprisingly complex, requiring a holistic approach to address them. Those whose behavioural pattern is to rush towards quick answers can find the exploration of what’s actually happening to be confronting, frustrating, uncomfortable – and rich in learning. In complexity what matters is strengthening relationships between people, recognising and understanding influences and forces rather than exerting control, accepting emergence rather than being focused on planning for outcomes, and a readiness to work with boundaries and perspectives rather than a sense of objective truth.

What's the difference? My article in Coaching at Work

In the Coaching at Work conference session I ran in July 2018, we set out to explore differences and connections between generations. Generation Z guests wanted to be recognised as individuals and to have their diversity valued, rather than focus on their differences as a group from the rest of the population. And coaches reflected that coaching students was no different from coaching anyone else. So what's the difference?

Resilience in a changing world

Leaders are constantly required to deliver more with less. But their resilience can’t be taken for granted. Resources that are particularly valuable for building resilience include: Self-compassion and self-care; mindfulness and acceptance; awareness of habitual thinking patterns such as confusing assumptions with reality; clarification and articulation of purpose; building adaptability and the ability to flex; physical resourcing through sleep, diet and exercise.

Leadership, culture and successful selling

Leaders often start their careers by excelling technically. However, as their careers progress, they require an increasingly nuanced approach – particularly in relation to communication. Leadership means getting things done through people, not in spite of them, and leaders need to tap in to their self-awareness and to convert that into self-managed communication. In the high-stakes climate of the oil and gas industry, from Texas to Saudi, the leader has a consistent need for humility, integrity, curiosity, a willingness to think beyond the usual boundaries, trust, an awareness of one’s impact, and a finely-honed capacity to listen and to respect each individual.

'My markers in the sand': my latest article in Coaching at Work

Organisations which buy coaching can, knowingly or unknowingly, prevent the embedding of the learning it enables: organisational cultures can pull in the opposite direction from the messages from such learning. Expressing my values, my philosophy and my expectations of organisational adaptation at the beginning of every coaching programme might boost the integration of the changes that result from the coaching.

Stretching to breaking point

Some senior people I coach are being stretched to a point where their wellbeing has reached dangerously low levels. At the heart of their recovering their health and balance is the realisation that, whereas they’d previously regarded self-care as selfish, self-indulgent or disposable, not only is it ‘OK’, legitimate and necessary, but also it enables them to make a better job of their jobs and their relationships in and out of work, enhancing their efficiency, their insight, the ability to take a broader perspective, their emotional intelligence, and the quality of their judgments and decisions.

'Drop the attitude' - my article in Coaching at Work

Women talk as much as ever about not being acknowledged or included – and worse - by male colleagues. The way forward in terms of organisations is for leaders to change the culture: this takes courage, staying power and consistency. My female clients find that my being present and working systemically and somatically with them are especially resourcing, focusing on the systems of relationships that they're part of, and the patterns of those systems. Male leaders whom I've coached have also changed their approach and their strategies, enabling deeper sustained success for their organisations.

Whose life is it anyway? Loyalties and agendas

Leaders may give away their authority by prioritising other people’s agendas and interests over their own – often indiscriminately and usually unconsciously. This blind loyalty to an assumption that questioning or challenging someone’s else’s agenda isn’t possible can, in turn, be down to another loyalty. This underlying loyalty can be to the leader’s outdated or misplaced belief that they have to do everything themselves if things are to get done to the necessary standard. This thinking habit or indeed a lack of thought - and the consequences - can be damaging to their leadership, career prospects, reputation, effectiveness, relationships, judgements and decisions. Leaders need to remember to be aware of the moment when a situation is drawing them in, and to give themselves space to think and options for alternative action.

Compassion: a business issue

Paul Gilbert, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby, defines compassion as "a sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it" – and he notes that the core of compassion is courage. Far from being a soft issue, his scientific perspective is directly relevant to how organisations can boost their effectiveness. Compassion can do much to restore trust, confidence and a sense of safety in the individual and in the system – and it’s partly about both presence and acceptance, with a close link to mindfulness. Leaders and their reports can take practical steps to boosting both their self-compassion and their compassion towards others.

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