Leadership Barometer 186 Ubiquitous Reinforcement

March 1, 2023

Ubiquitous reinforcement should occur at all levels.

You can never overdo sincere reinforcement in an organization. The best reinforcement approach is to make it ubiquitous and continuous. The word ubiquitous comes from the Latin root, ubiqe, which means everywhere.

Reinforcement is intrinsic

When people are properly reinforced, they develop habits of doing the right things because it makes them feel good. The reinforcement becomes intrinsic. People are doing their best at all times, not just when the boss has a chance to witness it.

Of all the tools at a leader’s command, positive reinforcement is by far the most powerful. Reinforcement can be a minefield of potential problems, and many leaders, after getting burned, become reluctant to use it. By avoiding reinforcement, they ignore the most powerful correcting force available to them.

Typical reinforcement mistakes

It is sad that many attempts at positive reinforcement actually lower motivation.  You have probably experienced this yourself, either on the sending or receiving end, and it can be very frustrating.  There are four reasons why positive reinforcement can have a negative impact.

  1. Overdone Tangible Reinforcement – The overuse of trinkets, buttons, T-shirts, or stickers to reinforce every positive action gets old quickly.
  1. Insincere Reinforcing – Insincerity is transparent. When a manager says nice things about you that do not come from the heart, you know it instantly.
  1. Not Perceived as Reinforcing – What people find reinforcing is a matter of individual taste.
  1. Reinforcement Perceived as Unfair – Of all the reasons for not reinforcing well, the issue of fairness is the most common. If they reinforce Sally publicly, it makes her feel good but tends to turn off Joe and Mark, who believe they did more than she did.

That dynamic is why the “employee of the month” concept often backfires. It sets up a kind of implied competition where one person is singled out for attention. One person wins while everyone else loses. 

Ubiquitous reinforcement

If reinforcement occurs at all levels, then the culture will thrive. That culture is a social norm that encourages everyone to honestly appreciate each other and say so as often as possible.

As a leader, you want to develop this kind of atmosphere, but how?  A good place to start is with yourself.  Make sure you are practicing positive reinforcement in a way that others see and recognize.  Create an atmosphere where everyone understands and places high value on effective reinforcement.

Transform the culture 

A reinforcing culture transforms an organization from a “what’s wrong” mindset to one of “what’s right.” The quality and quantity of work increase dramatically because you have harnessed energy previously lost in bickering.   You put it into positive work toward the vision.  What an uplifting way to increase productivity! 

Don’t get discouraged if you make a mistake in reinforcing.  Sometimes you will.  It is an area of significant peril, but its power is immense.  Continually monitor your success level with reinforcement.  Talk about it openly, and work to improve the culture.  Consider every mistake a learning event for everyone, especially yourself. 

Conclusion

Let your reinforcement be joyous and spontaneous.  Let people help you make it special. Reinforcement is the most powerful elixir available to a leader.  Don’t shy away from it because it’s difficult or you’ve made mistakes in the past.

 

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of: The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.


Reducing Conflict 82 Your Choice

February 26, 2023

The level of conflict you experience in life is your choice. I am sure that most readers would challenge that statement. Clearly, there are situations where conflict is unavoidable. This article will put the issue under a magnifying glass to understand how much control we have.

Types of conflict

The types of conflict are infinite as we are all different. It would take hundreds of volumes to describe all the situations that cause conflict in our lives. One common denominator is that conflict in your world involves you. I am not saying you are to blame, but you are definitely involved in the equation.

Your choice of how much to engage

Whether the root cause is someone being unfair or some external condition that creates friction, you are there.  If you simply choose to not be a player, you can avoid or greatly reduce the conflict in your life.

The process goes back to one of my favorite quotes.

“The quality of your life and what you can accomplish is a function of what is going on between your ears.” R.Whipple

The first question to ask yourself when you feel too much conflict is whether it is worth it.

You do not have to resolve each issue

The technique of agreeing to disagree can help reduce the conflict in your life. Just because you see a particular issue differently from me does not mean we need to fight over it.  We just have an area where we are not congruent in thought.  We can still appreciate each other and work well together on the million areas where we agree.

Make a conscious effort to set aside some areas to reduce the rancor you experience. It is a healthy habit.

What about conflict with yourself?

Self-conflict is a special case where you may not even be aware of the issue. You can get quite worked up arguing with yourself on issues.  In these cases, you may become exhausted trying to figure out the correct perspective.

We have a tendency to rationalize things as being okay when they are really unethical or dumb. Then we beat ourselves up for not having the integrity we profess.

One antidote is to become more conscious of when you are arguing with yourself.  Have a kind of “check engine” light that goes off in your head when your energy is going in the wrong direction. Make a firm decision that you will not sabotage yourself in this way.

The trick is to catch yourself in the act, then decide to stop doing it. The “check engine” light analogy is a great aid in identifying this hurtful habit.

Your choice to use the Golden Rule

When you are in active conflict with another person, try to remember the Golden Rule.  How would you like the other person to address you if the situation was reversed? Sometimes just changing the tone of voice is enough to lower the temperature.

Watch your body language.

We communicate more with our body language than we do with words. Remain calm and send signals that are consistent with that calmness with your body.  Do not point at the other person.

Try talking much softer when you are in conflict.  It may be difficult to do, but it can really lower the angst quickly when you lower your voice.  Try it and see next time you feel worked up.

Conclusion

Conflict is a part of being a human being, but we really do have a choice for much of it.  Try using some of the suggestions in this article next time you are in conflict. See if choosing to lower your stress level helps you lead a happier life.

 

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations. 

 


Building Higher Trust 113 The Magic Ingredient

February 23, 2023

I have been studying trust in organizations for over 50 years, and I have found the “magic ingredient.” As a Division Manager in a large manufacturing firm, I studied the impact of trust on performance. After many years of comparing groups within my division, I came to a conclusion.

Trust is the magic ingredient

The success of any group rests most on how much trust there is in it.  I observed that high-trust groups were able to tackle difficult tasks and come away successful. In low-trust groups, even simple daily challenges became huge obstacles.

The difference was so stark that I described trust as the magic ingredient. Groups that could maintain trust seemed to have a shortcut to success.  Other groups where trust was lacking were always struggling to survive.

Trust was a magic ingredient for leaders too

I observed that leaders of high-trust groups found that leadership was a blast. They were allowed to be human beings and make an occasional error. The people would cut these leaders some slack. Basically, leaders of high-trust groups were having more fun.

The other side of the coin contains misery.  Leaders of low-trust groups are always miserable because people in the organization are out to get them. I picture the people in low-trust groups to be like coined snakes ready to strike at the least provocation.

Let’s take a look at some specific functions to enhance the contrast.

Communication

Leaders of low-trust groups had to watch every word. If they did not spin every statement correctly people would misinterpret the message. They had to rehearse every communication to see if there was any way to get the wrong impression. There were several instances where people heard the leader say what they thought he was going to say. They would hear bad news even if the message was basically good news. Getting to a precise way of communicating was always a chore.

On the flip side, leaders of high-trust groups could relax and be authentic. If something did not sound right, people would ask for more clarity. The leader was not subject to a trust withdrawal.

Conflict

Low-trust groups had to battle inter-group conflict at every turn. That is because the individuals had to continually watch for what other people were trying to do to them. The energy wasted in just trying to keep things civil was staggering.

In high-trust groups, the focus was on what they were trying to accomplish. The group members didn’t have to protect their interests, so they were more creative and cooperative with others.

Productivity

Since low-trust groups spent their resources fighting each other; they were less productive. They were always under the gun because they did not get things done efficiently.

My observation of high-trust groups is that they were at least twice as productive as low-trust groups. They were continually receiving praise and gratitude from upper management due to their output.  More than sheer output, they made it seem easy because it was for them.

Conclusion

The contrast between high and low trust groups could not be starker. That is why I am writing this series of blogs.  I want leaders to know that the element of trust is the magic ingredient for any group to be successful.

It is curious that when I look into low-trust situations it is usually the behaviors of the leader that are causing the problem. Let me put it more directly. Most leaders do not recognize that their behaviors are the root cause of the problems that are holding them back. Leaders set the tone for everything that happens in an organization.

 

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations


Leadership Barometer 185 Pushing Back

February 22, 2023

As a leader, you will run into times when people are pushing back on your ideas. There can be many different reasons why an employee could disagree. It is critical to find out what is going on before you respond.  If you guess wrong, then serious damage to trust can occur.

This article is about the process of pushing back.  We will discuss several of the reasons why you may see this behavior. I will suggest several antidotes that you may find helpful.

Keep in mind that there is an infinite combination of things that can cause some pushback. As a leader, it is always up to you to do the right thing in the right way. The best advice is to always follow your values and show empathy for what the employee is experiencing.

Honest disagreement can lead to pushing back

Hopefully, this root cause is what you will run into the most. In this case, the employee has a different opinion of what is right to do or say. It is important to let the employee express himself and not put him down.  Listen carefully to the input and consider it as valid information before deciding what to do.

This behavior is what I call “Reinforcing Candor,” which is the best way to grow a culture of trust. This is true especially when there are disagreements between people.

In a group setting, it is often helpful to ask what other people think about the topic. You get a more balanced view of the sentiment of the entire group rather than just one voice.

By treating the employee as an adult and encouraging honest dialog, you are creating psychological safety for the employee.  This practice will normally enhance trust as long as the employee is sincere with his input. 

Searching for a compromise 

The employee may feel that your proposal is okay but that there are better possibilities. Go into some form of brainstorming where the group can consider the merits of several ideas. Be open to these ideas and judge them fairly. By seriously considering alternate views, you demonstrate flexibility and openness.

Pushing back by acting out

Part of leading well is being able to read the emotions of other individuals and the group. Be sure to observe the body language in the room.

If the employee has some kind of issue with you or others in the group, he may push back. It is a way to express his frustration. He wants to grab air time so he can vent about what is really on his mind. 

In a meeting, It may help to shift the topic. Ask for a follow-up discussion with the person. You need to be extremely gentle with the shift in order to not enflame the person further. Once you are in a more private setting you can ask the employee what is really bugging him.

Keep in mind that no one solution is going to be right for all individuals and situations. You have to consider the person and the context, then select your approach.

Grandstanding 

The employee may be trying to grab the stage to gain attention. This usually happens for the purpose of lobbying for some other course of action. By monopolizing the stage, he is blocking other people from getting the floor. He takes the majority of air time. You need to provide for other people to get air time as well.

Hindering progress 

Sometimes an employee will keep talking just to slow down progress. He does not agree with the direction you are heading. He tries to limit the ability to make decisions. 

Remind the vocal employee that everyone on the team deserves the right to be heard.

Advancing his own cause

Sometimes the employee is adamant that his way is the only logical way to view the issue.  Poll the entire group to see if his view is supported by all. Not taking his advice because the majority of people felt it was wrong is explainable.

Summary 

There are some people who will push back on most ideas just for sport.  You need to coach these individuals to be more respectful of the group.

It is a delicate balance because he needs to feel he can speak up without getting smashed.  That is where the technique of reinforcing candor is the best medicine. The first order of business is to make the person glad that he brought up his concerns. By insisting on respectful dialog, you foster better teamwork and take advantage of the creativity of the entire team.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of: The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.


Reducing Conflict 81 Body Language

February 19, 2023

One way to reduce conflict between people and groups is to observe the body language. We communicate much more with our body language than we do with the words we utter. Pay attention, and you can get vital information before people boil over. 

My long history with body language

I have studied body language in the work setting since my wife bought me the book How to Read a Person Like a Book by Nierenberg and Calero in the late 1970s.  In 2020 I wrote a series of 100 articles on observations about body language. If you would like to browse the topics, here is an index with links to use. https://thetrustambassador.com/2020/11/15/body-language-100-final-thoughts-and-index/

Once you become adept at reading body language and controlling your own, you can reduce conflict in your world. We will explore some of the points to look for in this brief article.

The role of facial expression in body language

You can get most of the information you need by just observing facial expressions. Be alert for changes in expression. If a person normally has a pleasant expression but switches to a scowl after something you just said, that is a signal.

The eyebrows tell much of the story. A raised eyebrow signals skepticism while a furrowed brow indicates irritation.

Another facial feature to look for is a clenched jaw.  You can see the muscles on the side of the face start to bulge out when the other person is getting upset.  This is often accompanied by a slight reddening of the skin tone around the jaw.

Watch the hand gestures

When hand gestures switch from open hands with palms up to rigid fists, the person is getting ready for a fight. Another telltale sign is when people start pointing at each other. Again, the important thing is to look for stimulus and response.

A change is rather easy to pick up. You want to cool things down while there is still some level of control. Often a Socratic Question can get to the root of the irritation. You need to use questions with judgment to not pour gasoline on the flame.

Make sure your tone of voice is calm and soothing.  If you deliver your comments with an edgy tone, you will deepen rather than reduce the conflict.

Be alert for body stiffness

When we change state to one of more irritation, we usually stiffen up our spine.  This rigidity is often accompanied with some arm gestures like folding of the arms.  When you see this kind of change, you should suspect something negative is happening with the person.

These are the common changes that go along with enhanced agitation

There are many other signals to look for as well. I like to view clusters of signals.  If you see many different signs that are all pointing in the same direction, you can be more sure. Look into the source of agitation, but do so in a loving and gentle way. That way you can de-escalate the conflict in that situation.

 

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations. 

 

 


Building Higher Trust 112 Empowerment and Trust

February 17, 2023

Empowerment and trust usually go hand in hand. It is like looking at two sides of the same coin. Organizational redesign for more empowerment can be an incredible way to improve the performance of a group. If poorly done, it can lead to a loss of morale and productivity.

Where is the magic to achieve empowerment and trust?

The magic is in how you approach the problem as a leader. Trust is essential for a great result. As a Division Manager in a large manufacturing organization, I had the opportunity to witness some fantastic productivity improvements based on trust.

A classic and real example

A Classic example occurred in a small, isolated work group in John’s department.  He had done some cost benchmarking. He needed to make a significant shift in productivity to be competitive.  He was considering a consolidation of this group with another in a different building. 

He bounced the idea off the workers and, of course, it was pretty unpopular.  Calling all 19 people in the group together, he gave them two weeks to come up with an alternate plan. Lacking that, he would go forward with the consolidation. The trick here is that John put the power in their hands, but he provided help to them.

John provided a facilitator so the team could meet efficiently to work on the problem. They worked for two weeks while keeping up with production. 

The plan based on empowerment and trust

Finally, they called John and me in at 6 AM one day to report progress.  They revealed a plan that, in three months, would improve quality and delivery while reducing the crew size from 19 down to 9 people.  They wanted to know if they had our “permission” to do it.  I told them it felt like I had just caught the winning touchdown pass in the Management Super Bowl!

They had removed an organization layer and eliminated some straight-day jobs.  Everyone had to get additional training and give up some perks they were previously enjoying.  In the end, they got down to 10 people rather than 9, but you never saw a more energized and dedicated bunch of people.  They owned the change because they had invented it.

Nobody had to leave the company

One key was that John guaranteed people upfront that we would find good jobs for anybody freed up by the exercise.  People trusted that promise based on John’s integrity.

Empowerment and trust

Without that condition, the result would have been tepid rather than red-hot.  Also, without a trained facilitator, things would have degenerated into a kind of organizational food fight. The team felt empowered to make changes. This is an excellent use of a consultant: to keep people on task.  Ultimately, trust was the key that unlocked the door to excellence.  John trusted the workers, and they trusted him. It worked!

Conclusion

By allowing the team to solve the problem, John empowered them and trusted them to deliver. A 50% productivity improvement in 3 months was a fantastic result.  When you add improved quality and delivery, it was a home run.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.


Leadership Barometer 184 Succession Secrets

February 14, 2023

This article is about succession secrets because succession is a very delicate and dangerous area of leadership. I have worked as a consultant for hundreds of organizations over the past quarter century. Companies and executives call me in when there are issues that they cannot resolve themselves.

Roughly half of these situations have a delicate succession situation as the root cause of the problem. Each case is unique, because of the infinite variety of potential challenges that are specific to their situation. There are some common denominators that I will discuss in this article.

The leader does not want to go 

This is a typical situation where the incumbent leader has not been performing well but wants to stay and correct the problems.

What if the heir apparent is not competent? 

In the early 1980’s Wang Laboratories was one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world. Founder, An Wang, was the fifth richest American in 1986 and he passed on control to his son Fred Wang.

The company went downhill quickly. After three years, Wang decided to fire his son, but it was too late to save the company. The damage had been done. I have a brother who was able to witness this catastrophe from the inside.

A common succession secret 

The most common situation is where a leader is set to retire and the replacement leader is selected by a third party. The anointed person does not have the support of the people he will be leading (I will use the male pronoun in this article to keep it simple. Recognize the problem is equally valid for both genders.)

Sometimes the heir is easy to spot, like in a family-owned business.  Other times there is an outside influential person who lobbies for the new leader. The bottom line is that if most people are against the new leader, you are heading for trouble.

The current leader does not want to go unless he is convinced the organization can survive

I have run into this situation many times.  The leader has been in place for over 20 years and the organization has performed well.  The incumbent leader is in his 70s and is ready to retire. The problem is that he does not want to leave and have his “baby” suffer because of it.

In this case, I have found the best approach is to reason with the incumbent leader that he will be happier once he makes the decision and moves on. There will be less worry. It is amazing to see the relief on the part of the older leader once a replacement is in place.  

The succession secret is to plan and groom

Leaders should look down the road for several years and groom a successor over a period of time. They have a better outcome for several reasons.  The people in the organization become familiar and comfortable with the replacement.  The outgoing leader has plenty of time to influence the replacement. The time urgency is not there, so the whole process seems less frantic or arbitrary.

Conclusion

Successful succession requires a lot of attention and careful planning. Putting a decision off until you have to select a replacement urgently is a formula for failure.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of: The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.


Reducing Conflict 80 The Role of Risk

February 12, 2023

What is the role of risk in our lives? Most of us were taught at an early age to do our best to avoid risk.  That is why Mom always told us never to run with scissors.

It is prudent to be aware of things that could go wrong and harm us. On the flip side, if we always take the safest path we will not get very far in life. We also won’t have much fun.

There is some balancing of risk versus reward that goes on in our subconscious nearly all the time. These thoughts usually occur subconsciously.

The role of risk is to allow more conscious decisions

In life, there are thousands of things that can work against our success, our health, and even our life. Risk is that thought pattern that alerts us to potential dangers so we can improve our batting average. We take most actions out of habit or rote. The role of risk is to ring a little bell inside our heads to think about our underlying assumptions.

An example of risk

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, recently announced it would lay off 12,000 employees. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, had to try to explain the inability to predict a slowdown after unprecedented growth in 2021. In a recent article in Inc. Magazine, the explanation was as follows:

“How is it possible that the CEO of a trillion-dollar company wasn’t able to foresee that economic trends born of a global pandemic weren’t likely to continue once people, you know, started going outside again? I mean, all he would have had to do is type ‘will the pandemic economic growth continue?’ into Google’s search field, and he would have seen that most economists were predicting more than a year ago that growth was slowing.

The ability to see around corners

Colin Powell had a nice way of expressing how to deal with risk in hiring people. In his article, 18 Leadership Lessons he wrote the following description.

“Powell’s Rules for Picking People: Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners.”

The secret sauce here is to raise assumptions to a higher conscious level. Know when there is a risk in front of you.

 Keep an eye on shifting momentum

When trying to anticipate risk think not about what you can see and focus on what you cannot see.  It is like Wayne Gretzky’s famous quote,

“I skate to where the puck is going to be.”

To be successful at that, you need to pay attention to the forces that are acting on the puck.

Risk is unavoidable; Managing it well is genius

We are surrounded by risk all of our lives. The venue does not matter. It can be playing with other children, raising a family, managing a group, or introducing a new product.  Some people cringe because of the unknown. They fear the risk and cower over what might happen to them.  I believe that reaction takes the zest out of life.  It also abdicates responsibility.

Of course, it is foolhardy to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.  That is a formula for ultimate failure.  Rather, take the road of being curious about what might happen.  Some things are predictable, like climate change. 

The ultimate risk is to our home planet

If you have not felt the signs of caution about our environment, then you are living under a rock.  Our spaceship is changing so visibly and demonstrably that it is impossible to ignore. 

When you try to endure the extreme drought of the past years it shows ignorance. Mother Nature is sending us signals all over the planet. Recently a huge chunk of the polar ice cap broke off and became an iceberg.  If you live anywhere near water, you should be able to see the risk that is in front of you.  We already have massive flooding to contend with.  What will it be like in a decade? Move to higher ground while there is still time.

Embracing the role of risk

You can go overboard and withdraw from the world, or you can take a more pragmatic approach. Try to pay more attention to the signals that are all around you. Those factors give real clues to your future.  For leaders, it is especially important to be well informed not only about current conditions but also momentum. Spend energy reading and discussing future trends so you can see where the puck will be.

Conclusion

The information in this article is about awareness.  Life is not a random walk around the park. The trick is to not panic with every prognostication, but be aware of the potential of each one.  Information is the remedy that you use to harness the power of risk.

 

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations. 


Building Higher Trust 111 Your Values and Vision

February 9, 2023

It is vital to keep your values and vision current and visible. I often witness organizations that do not do this.  When I ask if they have values, they start talking about honesty, integrity, customer focus, or employee satisfaction.  I get some vague statements about ethics thrown in for good measure. 

Then I ask where I can find the written values. Sometimes the leader can pull something out of a drawer where the items resemble what I just heard.

More often. I hear, “the values are posted in the conference room and the break room.” I go and look, and there is indeed a slightly-torn or smudged paper on the bulletin board. If I ask the employees about them, they tell me “Oh yes, we have the values posted, but “they” don’t follow them.”  If the posted values are not followed, they do more harm than good. They serve as a reminder of the hypocrisy.

Vision and values must be in play every day

There are several organizations where the words are in the minds of the executives but not even written on paper, let alone implanted in the hearts of the employees where they can do some good.

Three rules with values are 1) write them down, 2) talk about them at every chance, and 3) follow them. If you miss any of these steps, then you are forfeiting most of the power of having values. Actually, values do you the most good when they are difficult or expensive to follow. People see and appreciate the effort to live by the values.

Vision is the same

The exact same discussion applies to the vision of an organization.  If the vision is not committed to writing and included in discussions with employees, it loses its power. It does not direct the daily activities of the population to move toward the future with confidence.

Expand the publication to the entire strategy

These two things are most important to write down. I believe the entire strategy should be committed to written form. That would include the following things at a minimum:  vision, mission, values, purpose, behaviors, strategies, tactics, and measures.

Many organizations make a production out of generating the strategy. The resulting tome is way too heavy for the employees to lift, let alone read and understand.

Compress the result to a single sheet

I usually reduce the entire strategic framework to a single sheet of paper. On the front side, we have the purpose, vision, mission, values, and behaviors. On the reverse side, there is a neat array of the top 4-6 strategies. Too many strategies defeats the purpose of focusing effort. Then you have a few major tactics for each strategy. Finally, what measure do we intend to use to track our progress for each tactic? I like to laminate the document as a way to indicate legitimacy.

Can do in a couple days

Usually, the entire process of developing the single sheet framework takes from 8-16 hours of interface time with a management team. That is enough time to engage everyone in the process. It is far less that the burdensome six-to-18-month process that creates hatred for the process among the staff.

Summary

Drive an efficient and high-energy process to create the strategy for your organization. Commit the resulting framework to paper and refer to it every day. You will have a much higher chance of being a successful organization.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations


Leadership Barometer 183 The Nature of Trust

February 7, 2023

In my work, I help organizations understand the nature of trust and how to obtain more of it. I have noticed that people tend to visualize trust in pretty narrow terms. They believe it is a feeling of one person toward another. I trust you or I do not trust you. 

Different kinds of trust 

I start many of my programs by demonstrating that trust is far more complex than we realize. It is extremely dynamic.  If you believe trust is one thing, think again. Consider this (incomplete) list of the different types of trust in our lives:

  1. Assurance – You always have my back.
  2. Consistency – You always do what you say.
  3. Reliance – You do what you believe is in my best interest.
  4. Dependency – You do things to keep me well and happy.
  5. Values – We share common core values and trust each other to abide by them.
  6. Fearless – It is safe to voice an opinion without fear of retribution by you.
  7. Vulnerability – You are willing to listen and admit mistakes
  8. Safety – You will protect me from harm.

These are just eight of the obvious categories of trust, and they only include the trust between individuals. There are several other major categories and many subcategories of the ones I have listed. Trust also is evident in every aspect of our lives. It is there in the people we know, the services we obtain, our institutions, and the products we use. Trust is ubiquitous.

Trust is all around us 

We cannot get out of bed in the morning and go to work without experiencing trust several hundred times. We are rarely conscious of the interplay unless something does not work. We walk into the bathroom and turn on the light switch trusting that the lights will go on. We turn the spigot in the shower trusting the water to come out.

As long as things go as expected, then we are not conscious of the possibility for something else to happen.

Most conscious trust

We pay most attention to the level of trust between ourselves and other people. This is the most common form of conscious trust. What we experience is a kind of one-way trust.

We often fail to recognize that trust is always bilateral. The other person trusts us at some level just as we trust her at some level. The levels are rarely the same at any point in time.

Dynamic trust

Trust is far more dynamic than we realize. Our trust in a peer at work may shift slightly several times in one day. It depends on the moment-by-moment interplay of dialog and activities.  These shifts are usually small, but if they are all in the same direction, a great deal of trust can be either gained or lost in a single day.

Trust between people is cumulative rather than zero-based.  We start each interface with roughly the level of trust we had at our last interface. Each person has an “account” of trust with the other person. The balance of trust is the sum of all deposits and withdrawals in the account up to that point. I made a demonstration of how trust works between people using a bunch of metal and plastic scraps. I made a short video about it: Trust Barometer.

The point of this article is that trust is far more complex than most people realize. It is everywhere in our lives.  The cumulative impact of all the trust in your life creates your equilibrium with things and people.  

Expand to cover an organization 

Imagine taking several hundred people and putting them together in a kind of pressure cooker called an organization. You have a rather complex situation. The cumulative level of trust between people in the entire organization is what gives the entity its power to operate. 

The role of leaders 

Leaders provide the environment where this fragile commodity called trust will flourish or be extinguished. I believe it is the behaviors of the leaders that determine the level of trust in any organization.

Trust is not dependent on the desires of leaders, their intelligence, or their intentions. All leaders seek high trust. It is their behaviors that govern the reactions in people that lead to higher or lower trust. Here is a two-minute video explaining this point.

If an organization is struggling with performance issues, the root cause is normally one thing. It is the inability of the leaders to create an environment where trust grows.  That is both good news and bad. 

The bad news is that most leaders do not believe what I just wrote. It is easier to blame others or circumstances. The good news is that there is a way to educate leaders and actually do better.  The hurdle is getting leaders to recognize that the outcome is created by their behaviors.

Conclusion 

My mission in life is to educate as many leaders as possible about these ideas. By doing that, I can make a tiny difference in our world. Come and join me by passing this article on to a leader you know.

Bob Whipple, MBA, CPTD, is a consultant, trainer, speaker, and author in the areas of leadership and trust.  He is the author of: The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind.  Bob has many years as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 Company and with non-profit organizations.