How to develop Trust

Fact ....

The more people trust each other within the team you lead - the higher your team's innovation, productivity, and revenue.

In one word - the more effective the nature of your team.

And vice versa ....

The less people trust each other within the team you lead - the more your team's problems, time to market, and costs.

In one word - the more difficult it is for you to achieve desired results.

It's that simple.

So the question is ....

What it is that you need to do in order to develop 'trust' within the team you lead?

There are many-many ways - but there are two fundamental, central, and indispensable things you must do ....

- You must develop interpersonal congruency
- And you must be authentic

I will define each one of these terms in behavioral language - so you know exactly what it is you need to do.

On this issue I will talk about interpersonal congruency (I will talk about your authenticity in upcoming issues).

Interpersonal congruency is when your own assessment about your performance is the same as the assessment that the rest of the team members have about your performance (and this must be true for every single member of your team).

There is NO interpersonal congruency when your assessment about your own performance is not the same as the assessment that your team members have about your performance.

I will say this again in different words ....

Let's suppose that the team you lead has seven members - including yourself .... Patty, John, Sally, Peter, Mary, Will and yourself.

IF the assessment that Patty has about her own performance is identical to the assessment that the rest of the team has about Patty's performance - AND if this is true for the rest of the team - meaning that IF the assessment that John has about his own performance is identical to the assessment that the rest of the team has about John's performance - AND IF the assessment that Sally has about her own performance is identical to the assessment that the rest of the team has about Sally's performance - etc., etc., etc. - then there is interpersonal congruency.

This must be true with every single team member - with your entire team - including the team leader (yourself).

If there is interpersonal congruency among all team members - except for one team member - then the team as a whole has NO interpersonal congruency.

Now ....

How do you build interpersonal congruency within the team you lead?

The most effective tool that I know of is ongoing feedback - ongoing multi-directional feedback to be precise …. sideways feedback (among team members), upwards feedback (the feedback that the team members give to the team leader [you]) and downwards feedback (the feedback that the team leader [you] gives to team members).

Build interpersonal congruency within the team you lead - and you will see your team's performance soar ....

The people that first introduced the concept of 'Interpersonal Congruency' are Polzer J., Swann B., and Milton L. in “Making Diverse Teams Click,” Harvard Business Review, Boston MA: July-August 2008.

Voilà.

On a different note - and since today is New Year (literally) - I would like to introduce you to Peter DiGiammarino who teaches leaders and their top teams to actually do what they say they will do so they can get their organizations on track to long-term growth and performance.

If you would like to learn about Peter's effective and simple to understand methods and tools - at no cost to you - subscribe to his blog by following this link.

I wish you have a great 2013 and that your vision as a leader become a reality. Remember - leaders don't predict the future - leaders create the future they envision.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!!

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Most recent 12 "Leader Newsletter" issues:

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Be a top notch Communicator
Be Persuasive in 60 Seconds or Less
Feedback Culture
Inter-Departmental Problems
Delegation
Real Customer Service
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Formality is like Cancer