Managing The Cost of Trust
Posted: Monday, May 26, 2008
by Mikhail Hutton
The HIL Group
Organizations are a funny thing. If you are reading this I am assuming you are a leader or person of influence in some capacity of the word. I am assuming that people look up to you, that they trust and respect you, and that they believe in you to help them push their lives forward. Recall the last time you were simply a member of an organization. It could be a nonprofit, a church, a sports team, or even a network marketing company. Do you remember the excitement when you first joined? Do you remember the passion that you had for the organization?
I remember the first time that happened for me, it was the first organization I had joined through a cadet program by the United States Military. This person was only two years my senior, and was a member of that organization for almost three years before I jumped on board. His name was Paul and would one day become one of my best friends. Paul would walk into a room and conversations would stop. This phenomenon intrigued me and I began to think about the underlying reason this could have happened. It was that day that I realized one of the most important things ever about leading an organization. That first foundation of anything I did had to involve the currency of trust.
Trust is a funny thing. It isn't very loud, in fact, it's very subtle and often overlooked but it commands large amounts or respect. Trust in a person is transferred very quickly from one person to the next. Looking back on that first experience, I did not know anything about Paul. I knew of him from what my training instructors had told me. I knew of his accomplishments that he had done in such a short time, and I immediately knew that because I had trust in my trainers I could immediately have trust in him. They were a reflection of his leadership and that immediately gained my respect.
Trust is an organization can be quickly earned for people like this and throughout our terms as leaders, we continue to make deposits in our relationships with the people we work very directly with. Without it we can not hope to have our followers buy into our ideas, we can not have clear communication, we can not expect them to work up to our standards, we can not motivate them, and we certainly can not hope that they would buy into our clear vision for the future. Are the people who look up to you putting trust in you at that level? Are they reflecting the values you believe in?
Trust is a very important factor in our leadership, and a firm foundation for everything. So I submit to you, what's the level of trust in your organization? Is it high? Are you exercising it? If not, why not? If so, how can you do it better? Even more importantly, are you aware of it? Is it hurting your results as a team? I sincerely hope that for your sake as a leader that you would be well aware of this currency and find new and exciting ways to both gage it and gain it, for the good of your organizations future.
Mikhail Hutton is owner of the Leadership Think Tank The HIL Group. He has worked with local governments, churches, and nonprofits to help them manage the transitions associated with Change. Mikhail is based out of State College , PA where he also works with young church leaders.
Visit website at: http://thehilgroup.com/
More from his company Blog at: http://thehilgroup.typepad.com/
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)hi Mikhail, this was an interesting article. trust is a gift, i believe, and when you are able to give that gift to another, it is magic. thanks for sharing, best regards, sue thom
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