Archives For Trust

Frontline Festival-May 2013: Trust and Transparency Edition

May 17, 2013 — 20 Comments

frontlinefestival 300x300 Frontline Festival May 2013: Trust and Transparency Edition

Welcome to the May Frontline Festival.  Thanks to all the amazing thought leaders sharing their perspectives on Trust and Transparency.

Building Trust

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership says you “can’t build trust,” in his post How do I trust thee?  Trust is important, but it has more than one dimension.  I like that he differentiates between being trusted as a person and being trusted as a leader, with salient examples of a newly promoted team leader.

New to the Festival, Henna Inam, of Transformational Leadership, shares her post How To Influence Others Powerfully.  She explores the linkage between influence and trust. I agree with her statement, “influence expands in direct proportion to trust and connection.”

Jonathan Green, of Monster Leaders, shares The Three Rules for a Prospering Work Culture.  Jonathan teaches, “Sharing is caring…   It is critically important to keep people in the know and connect them through honesty, sharing experiences and  promoting open dialogue.”

Trusting Your Team

“He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted.” -Lao Tzu

Lolly Daskal of Lead From Within offers great advice for building trust in her post, Just Trust Me.  My favorite point, “Trust is a two-way street. To make someone trustworthy, you need to trust them first. The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”  More leaders need this message. Continue Reading…

In Authenticity, Fear and Courage, Trust , ,
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Should You Reveal Your Secret at Work?

May 14, 2013 — 10 Comments

iStock 000010410000XSmall 150x103 Should You Reveal Your Secret at Work?You want to show up authentic, but then again… not every environment is safe.  If you tell your secret, will they admire your courage?  Will it bring you closer to your boss and others?  Or… Will they judge you?  Will doors open or close as a result of your authenticity?  Bill Treasurer, author of Leaders Open Doors, shares a powerful story of how revealing a deep secret opened the doors to remarkable opportunity.  I admire his courage.  At the same time, I can’t help but consider how his story would play out in other contexts… with other important leaders I know.  I suspect the outcome would be different.

Risky Reveals

A risky reveal can be admitting something from your past, in Bill’s case, he was recovering from a drinking problem.  Or perhaps it’s a hidden lifestyle choice.  If you’re wrestling with a potentially risky reveal, you know.   When Bill shared his secret with his boss at Accenture, it didn’t appear to go well. Continue Reading…

In Authenticity, Fear and Courage, grow your career, Trust , , ,
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Why Smart People Do Stupid Work

May 7, 2013 — 10 Comments

stupid 300x225 Why Smart People Do Stupid WorkDespite my best efforts to encourage employees to think, question, and recommend change, on any given day, I know there are people on my team doing tasks they know are stupid.

Stupid work includes…

  • reinforcing policies without thinking
  • making decisions that lose customers
  • generating reports no one uses
  • focusing on trivial matters when the sky is falling around them
  • _______ I’ll stop here to let you fill in the blank.
  •  If you find that cathartic here’s a few more blanks___________, ___________.

Bottom line, If it feels stupid it probably is.

Forest Gump said “stupid is as stupid does…”  But I know the truth.  Stupid is as stupid leads. Continue Reading…

In Culture, Empowerment, Execution, Trust , , , ,
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Force Field Analysis as a Teambuilding Exercise

April 24, 2013 — 9 Comments

lightside 150x100 Force Field Analysis as a Teambuilding ExerciseWhen you’re trying to fix a team… there are always factors working for you… and against you.  Secret force fields undermine your efforts.   Make the hidden forces known.  Make the force be with you.

Force Field Analysis is a well-tested change management technique developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1950s.  It’s brilliant in its simplicity.  Define a problem (or change) and a desired state.  Identify all the forces for and against your efforts.  Develop plans to maximize the good and minimize the bad. The technique works best in small groups (less than 12) and can be applied to any decision or change effort.

Force Field Analysis as Teambuilder

I use Force Field Analysis to build teams.  It gets people talking about specific issues.  Tangible actions emerge quickly.  Warning, it can get deep fast, so be sure your team is ready to talk.   You may want to use someone from HR or an outside facilitator to help.  For added fun, add light sabers.

Here’s how

  1. Define a problem your team is facing (i.e. we don’t help one another)
  2. Determine your ideal state (i.e. we would proactively support one another)
  3. Identify Driving Forces (i.e. we “want” to help, we have a common vision, some people help… oh boy…)
  4. Identify Restraining Forces (i.e. we’re all so busy, we aren’t co-located, I can’t trust that others will reciprocate… )
  5. Prioritize the issues in terms of magnitude (i.e. trust is the fundamental problem, made worse by being a remote team).
    Sometimes it’s good to stop here… and then take each issue one-by-one in shorter follow-up sessions
  6. Talk about the salient issues (this may take multiple sessions, that’s just fine)
  7. Identify your action plan with measures of success
  8. Follow-up to assess progress

Give it a try.  Let me and the LGL community know how it goes.

Additional Force Field Analysis Resources

Force Field Analysis:  Managing the Forces For and Against Change
Force Field Analysis Explained

In Communication, Meetings, Teamwork, Trust , ,
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The Blind Spot Leading the Blind Spot

February 28, 2013 — 4 Comments

 

iStock 000012824352XSmall The Blind Spot Leading the Blind Spot

“The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.”  George Bernard Shaw

We all have blind spots– aspects of our leadership style that we think are just fine… and we don’t fully see the impact on others.  What’s your blind spot? Continue Reading…

In Authenticity, Change, Conflict, Trust
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The Big Problem with Little White Lies

February 15, 2013 — 11 Comments

iStock 000015514300XSmall 300x211 The Big Problem with Little White Lies

“White lies introduce others of a darker complexion.” ~ William Paley

When’s the last time you sat in a meeting and heard a “little white lie”?

Sure, what they presented was “technically” the truth… the statistics they presented were real, but no one walked away with the full story.   Perhaps you found yourself wondering…  ”do they really think I’m that stupid?”

We all have different triggers and thresholds… I’ve come to learn that my white lie-detector is set to quick frustration.   I go from skeptical to spitting teeth in a matter of seconds.

I suspect I’m not alone.

Little white lies come in many forms

  • spin
  • strategic ambiguity
  • manipulated data
  • left out facts
  • embellished stories
  • hedging
  • broken promises
  • covering our butts
  • ? Continue Reading…
In Trust , , , ,
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How to Transform Mid-Team

February 8, 2013 — 5 Comments

iStock 000022782848XSmall 200x300 How to Transform Mid Team

The best time to transform to a radically new leadership style is when you start fresh with a new team.  But that’s not always practical or feasible.

You’ve been reading blogs, books, and maybe attended a course or got some 360 feedback… but your team doesn’t know all of that.  If you transform your style now, what will they think? If you suddenly start asking questions instead of telling…recognizing their wins,…  or take a sudden interest in their personal life, will they trust you?

If the transformation is dramatic, your teams may be shocked at best…and at least skeptical.. they may even distrust your motives.

Working on becoming a better leader is always worth it.

So, how can you ensure your team will take you seriously?  Can you transform with credibility? Continue Reading…

In Authenticity, Trust , , , ,
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“But Your Life Looks So Perfect on Facebook”

January 28, 2013 — 10 Comments

angst 300x300 But Your Life Looks So Perfect on FacebookI just got off the phone with an old friend.  She had several important concerns weighing on her heart.  We talked about them for a while, and then she shared:

You know I was talking to another friend about this and she said, “but your life looks so perfect on Facebook.”

I took a quick look at her Facebook page.  Of course it did.  It’s Facebook.   Who wants to put their troubles out there for the world to see?   All those great pics are absolutely true.  Much in her life is fantastic.  And, like every single one of us, other parts are messy.

So What’s This Got To Do With Leadership?

As leaders we work hard to present a “together” image.  How this shows up varies on the organization, context and culture.

Maybe it’s…

  • the right shoes
  • perfectly organized meetings
  • perfectly put together wardrobes
  • perfectly polished speeches
  • stories of how your bold career moves worked out just right
  • an office full of awards
  • happy pictures of your happy family
  • …?

I’ll pause here to let you fill in the blank for your world.  What is your organization’s equivalent to “looking good on Facebook.” Continue Reading…

In Authenticity, Fear and Courage, Trust , , , , ,
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