My Leadergrow Trust Model has a set of what I call “Enabling Actions.” These behaviors are different from the “Table Stakes” I discussed last week.
If a leader does not possess one of the “Enabling Actions” it doesn’t disqualify him or her completely, but it does hinder the process of achieving maximum trust.
With the “Enabling Actions,” the more you can practice them the more trust you can build within your group.
There are an infinite number of enabling actions. Let me mention a few as examples to illustrate:
• do what you say you’re going to do,
• admit mistakes,
• coach people in private rather than berate them in public, and
• act in the interest of others.
The list of possible “Enabling Actions” is really endless, and the more you can practice these behaviors the more consistently you will build trust.
Since organizational trust is created mostly by the behavior of leaders, it is useful to have a list of the kinds of leadership behaviors that are most effective at building trust.
Once again, the specific “Enabling Actions” would be specific to a particular industry and workplace although the majority of them will apply everywhere.
If I’m working in a law office, the enabling actions might be different from a group of executives running a garbage collection company. The distinguishing factor for “Enabling Actions” is that their absence does not prevent any trust; it simply limits the level of trust that is achievable.
Exercise for today: Take out a sheet of paper and work with your team to develop a list of 12 to 20 trust enabling actions in your environment. You will find this brainstorming activity to be easy, and it may lead to some interesting discussions about trust in your organization.
The enabling actions are extremely important, because the more you can identify them and practice them the higher trust you can achieve in your group. Make sure to keep brainstorming ideas for how to add more enabling actions to your list.
The preceding was derived from an episode in “Building Trust,” a 30 part video series by Bob Whipple “The Trust Ambassador.” To view three short (3 minutes each) examples at no cost go to http://www.avanoo.com/first3/517
Bob, it may be a simple exercise but it is powerful. Thank you for your constant suggestions on how to build trust.
Thanks Skip. The most powerful enabler of trust is coming up in my article I will post next Saturday. Stay tuned.
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