First Look to Self in Building the Trust Culture

Early in my career, I purchased Bert Decker’s book, You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard. I hoped that it would assist me in my role as an internal consultant for a national non-profit organization. My job was collaborating with individuals, as well as small and large groups of people, with the purpose of persuading them to… well… do things they were not currently doing, but should be.

I had a clear vision of the results I wanted to achieve in this role, and I assumed that the best way to accomplish them was to become a better communicator and improve my presentation skills. I researched the literature on communication and determined that Decker’s book might hold some answers. The premise the book is this—to be successful as a communicator you must be able to reach “IT”.

“IT refers to the First Brain, the most basic part of the brain. It is real, it is physical, and it is powerful; the seat of our emotions, the place where TRUST is established, where our gut response to others occurs. To have personal impact, to truly persuade other people to listen to your message you must win their emotional TRUST, before any meaningful verbal communication can take place”[1]

Despite this powerful statement about trust a sizable portion of the book was focused on communication. But I had a different takeaway from the book. Communication, in and of itself, was not the solution. Building trust was the solution. A Crescent Leadership, we talk about the trust culture all the time. It is one of the four pillars to building an enduring organization, and arguably, the first that must be established before the other three are possible. My colleagues have referenced the role of trust in previous articles. Personally, I found it to be fundamental to my personal leadership development and critical to supporting the Leaders I have worked with over the years. Sometimes the epiphany a reader has when reading a book or article is not what the author intended. The title of the book was the takeaway for me, not the techniques outlined in its pages. You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard became a touchstone for all the work I have done in my career. It led me to resources that focused on active listening, authentic leadership, leading by example, and collaboration.

Trust—gaining it and keeping it—is the most essential element of leadership.

As a Leader, you can learn various techniques and practice to perfection. However, a commitment to authenticity, honesty, transparency, ethical standards, and empathy are personal attributes. If, as a Leader, you do not embrace and cultivate these attributes, your long-term results will reflect it.

I have had numerous experiences with poor leadership. Although it may not have felt like it in the moment, they were invaluable lessons. They honed my skills in managing up, communication, and building commitment among my peers. These experiences allowed me to solidify and practice my values. They have shaped my approach in working with other Leaders.  

Consider these two scenarios. It was the first staff meeting with our new CEO. The new CEO was known to the team from the community and had a stellar reputation. The meeting began with standard introductions and status reports. It ended with a few remarks from the CEO regarding her goals, her open-door policy, her consensus-building style of leadership, and her hope that we could work together as a team for years to come. Lovely. Good sentiments. But it was her closing statement that has stuck with me over the years. To paraphrase it, please know that if you speak poorly of me in this office or in the community, I will know it and there will be consequences. Despite her initial assertions, this statement negated everything she’d said prior. From that moment, we no longer believed that communication—honest communication—was possible. This was a key opportunity for her to start to build the trust culture. Instead, an entire sub-culture emerged—the culture of fear. We questioned every directive, request, and compliment bestowed upon a staff member. In the next 12 months, 75% of senior staff left the organization, and the impact of the culture was evident in its declining results.

Contrast this with another scenario. A peer was promoted to lead her former team despite having a shorter tenure than many members of the team. This situation presented many challenges for both the Leader and the team. Although she had the expertise and direct knowledge of both people and process, she needed to demonstrate her credibility in the role. She knew she had to figure out how to navigate the altered relationships with colleagues and new expectations from administrators. Her first act was to gather information from each individual. Next, she crafted a summary with recommendations, shared it with the team for feedback, incorporate their insight and suggestions, and then held a staff meeting. The meeting focused on implementing changes, addressing questions regarding those items not implemented, and exploring the impact the changes would have on the team. It was clear to the team that their input had been thoughtfully considered.  Without speaking to her leadership style, she demonstrated her values and intended way of work through her actions, a crucial first step in establishing the trust culture. This team stayed together for nearly five years and produced exceptional results for the organization.

These scenarios demonstrate how every action and interaction is an opportunity to build or break trust. At Crescent Leadership we believe that "Leader" is not an entitlement that someone bestows upon you. It is an earned honor, and it must be earned again day after day. Leaders must first look to themselves when building the trust culture.

[1] Bert Decker, You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992), Introduction xvi