Trust is one important key to building a culture of high performance, whereby speed will go up and costs will go down, writes Dave Hanna
This statement by Stephen M. R. Covey (son of Dr Stephen R. Covey) in his book, The Speed of Trust, captures the essence of why trust (or lack thereof) is at the heart of every organisation’s culture. I refer to trust as the glue and the lubricant of culture. Trust is glue because it binds people together and converts routine work interactions into effective teamwork. Trust is also a lubricant because when it is present, as Covey suggests, things move faster with less expense. Let’s test this concept of the glue and the lubricant functions of trust.
Envision for just a moment what your work culture would be like if there was absolutely no trust between you and the people in your work group:
- What if you couldn’t count on them to come to work on time or stay at their work when they were needed?
- What if you feared anything you said might be reported to the media or to your competitors?
- What would the day be like if you couldn’t trust anyone to do even the simplest task without making a mistake?
- And what if the people in your group had absolutely no trust in you?
What if:
- they feared anything they said might be used against them?
- they believed the latest results reports had been cooked up by you to manipulate them?
- they viewed you to be totally incompetent and spent considerable time second-guessing literally every decision you made?
These scenarios are not just hypothetical examples; they play out every day in organisations around the world. What can you do as a manager in your organisation to strengthen this precious commodity of trust?
“You might consider the current state of your emotional bank account with important relationships”
I will offer two ideas from my colleagues, the late Dr Stephen R. Covey, and Dr André de Waal of the University of Maastricht.
Stephen Covey taught a very simple but powerful metaphor of trust: the emotional bank account (see graphic). This metaphor works on the same principle as a financial bank account – one can make deposits that build trust with others, and one can take withdrawals that diminish trust. You might consider the current state of your emotional bank account with important relationships.
André de Waal in his global study, What makes a high performance organisation?, identifiesbehaviours that correlate with high performance. These (and their opposite behaviours) are listed in the sidebox under deposits and withdrawals. All of these research-validated behaviours indeed build trust; their opposites make significant withdrawals.
One description of organisational culture is simply “what most of the people do most of the time”. If most of the people build trust by their actions most of the time every day, speed will go up and costs will go down.
I call that a big step forward on the path to high performance.
The emotional bank account
| Deposits | Withdrawals |
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Image source: iStock
