Trust: The Essential Ingredient
“TRUST is built with consistency.”
- Lincoln Chafee
I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some of the greatest athletes that have been in their sport. I’m not afraid to say that I pushed them hard. And I am proud to say that they answered the call … again and again and again. Why?
Because they TRUSTED me!
TRUST is the key ingredient to any successful venture.
When you have trust there is nothing that cannot be achieved. When we don’t believe in each other hard times will follow.
Culture
In the sports and corporate world people throw the term “culture” around like it’s some sort of mystical term. Let me simplify it for you: Culture begins and ends with TRUST.
A company that has a “Great Culture” will have TRUST up and down the chain of command from those who work at the lowest level to those who make the final decisions. As long as there is that TRUST, they will remain successful.
An organization that has a “Bad Culture” has a lack of TRUST.
The decision makers don’t TRUST the people who are working for them. The front office doesn’t TRUST the managers of the business. The management doesn’t TRUST the front office. The workers don’t TRUST the people who are paying them, those who hired them or the people that are telling them what to do. That’s why bad organizations remain bad. It starts at the top and trickles down. Since the very top of an organization rarely changes, the TRUST is rarely established.
Every once in a while, a struggling organization will show some success, but it is short lived, because the organization can’t keep building the TRUST that they had going for that short period of time.
Consistency
To build TRUST you must be consistent in the way that you work and the way that you treat each individual. Loyalty and communication are a big part of the TRUST factor in successful ventures. There is a “WE” attitude that permeates the entire organization.
TRUST will begin to erode when there is a lack of consistency. This begins when decision makers stop communicating about the direction that is being taken by the organization. This is palpable. You can feel the TRUST leaking out of a once successful venture. When there is DISTRUST in the building an “Us” vs “Them” mentality begins to divide the different levels of an organization.
History
In teams that I have been with that were successful there was great TRUST as we built the organization to a championship team. There was a “WE” feeling. But once the team got on top, there were people within the organization who felt that they wanted to have a bigger voice. Instead of consistency they wanted to throw in chaos. Everything changed. The team went from a “WE” to an “Us” vs “Them”. With this change also came an erosion of TRUST which was quickly followed by lack of success.
In business we see the same thing. “How the Mighty Fall” by Jim Collins and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni, paint a picture of how successful organizations have collapsed and how a key feature in their demise was the loss of TRUST.
In our government, and I don’t care what side of politics you lean, there has been a total loss of TRUST. No one TRUSTS the other side. The media and the politicians stir this pot of DISTRUST daily. No longer are politicians doing what is best for this country but, instead, what will cause the most damage to the other party. Totally an “Us” vs “Them” mentality.
TRUST
TRUST is easy to build. Do what is right … consistently. When we think about what will improve the “WE” and stop scheming on how to selfishly benefit “Us” while tearing “Them” down we will find success in every aspect of our life.
TRUST “WE”.
Have an amazing day!
