Trust Consciousness

Trust is foundational to leadership and team performance. If you have "it" you can have more fun and get the job done. If you don't, you start over each time in every interaction. The first consideration in building trust is to understand your own trust consciousness. To what degree do you trust?

Is trust earned, given or never possible? Who do you trust and why? Who don't you trust and why not? What are your underlying beliefs, experiences, mindsets and assumptions about trust?

Next, consider if you are trustworthy by exploring two kinds of trust - Competence and Character.

1. Competence is about capability and results. Do you have the ability to do your job, deliver desired outcomes, address real issues, clarify expectations and take responsibility for mistakes?
2. Character is about integrity and intent. Do you do walk the talk, follow-through, talk straight, exhibit no hidden agendas, care, right wrongs and share credit for accomplishments?

Experiment with smart trust (vs. blind trust) where you listen to understand, keep commitments and extend trust and notice what difference it makes.

For more check out www.speedoftrust.com.

Paying Attention To Culture

If culture is the glue that holds people together and can generate or thwart performance, we need to pay more attention to its often invisible power.

Culture is the essence or spirit of a team, department or organization. It is a specific collection of values, norms, fears, beliefs, assumptions, rules & meanings (spoken/unspoken, written/unwritten, formal/informal) that intentionally or unintentionally influence behavior and results delivery.

Katzenbach provides some insight in his HBR article “Culture Change That Sticks” http://hbr.org/2012/07/cultural-change-that-sticks/ar/1 He recommends we:

1. Match Strategy and Culture – Does the DNA of your organization align with your current value proposition?
2. Focus on a few critical behavior shifts – What three (not 25) behaviors most reflect your mission, vision and values?
3. Honor (and validate) the strengths of your existing culture- What makes you unique and differentiates the way employees believe, feel, think, act?
4. Utilize and integrate formal and informal interventions – Are formal mechanisms (reporting structures, decision rules, comp/benefits and company events, etc.) aligned with informal practices (leadership modeling, cross-functional networks, manager/employee connections, storytelling, etc.)
5. Measure and monitor cultural evolution. Make it easy to notice when culture is helping or hindering performance by checking in on it. What do you feel in the office, hear on the phone (underneath the words), observe in interactions and sense in communications? 

Thanks Natarsha for the resource!