Today’s post is the last of the series about respect as an acronym for actions you can take to build your team. Creating and maintaining effective relationships is the key to ensuring seamless team coordination. It doesn’t happen by accident – it requires attention and work by the nominal leader. Mutual respect lays the foundation of effective relationships.
r-e-s-p-e-c-T
The bedrock of effective teamwork is the “T” – trust. We recognize trust when it is present – and when it is missing – but a lot of people have difficulty describing exactly what trust is. People often use words like “faith in someone” or “belief that a person can be counted on.” These are still pretty fuzzy definitions. The best definition I have been able to put together through reading, discussion, and reflection is: Trust is an emotional opinion that other people hold of you. Notice that the gauge of trust is not yours- it rests in an opinion (not facts), interpreted by others. We are not able to influence people directly, as in saying to someone “You can trust me.” As a matter of fact, the more direct you are, “Trust me, trust me,” the more suspicious people will become. The only direct action that you can take is to demonstrate trustworthy behavior – matching your language and your actions. Put more simply: Doing what you say you will do, ”walking the talk,” or following through on a promise.
The common action verb that goes with trust is “building.” To me, that is too direct. “Cultivate” seems more appropriate. I can demonstrate trustworthy behavior until the cows come home to attempt to “build” trust and you may still not choose to trust me. By showing you that I live up to my word gives you the time and opportunity to form your own opinion of trust. It is a lot more like gardening where if you plant the seed, provide water and light, you get results. With trust, you plant the seed of following through on what you say and give people the opportunity to recognize you as trustworthy.
If we all became gardeners of trust, we would be surrounded by trusting relationships. Imagine how much easier our work would be if we all knew we could count on each other. I’d like to try it out to see if it’s as good as it sounds. It may be even better.
