Stephen M. R. Covey states “The second wave—Relationship Trust—is all about behavior…consistent behavior.” He outlines 13 Behaviors that instill relationship trust or rebuild it. I share another example demonstrating how the behaviors improved trust, increased speed, and decreased costs. I refer to the same conference that I described two posts ago.
Behaviors That Lost Relationship Trust
I attended a conference where attendees had lost trust in their executive management. Three years of uncertainty, mixed messages, and rumors of closing operations drained the trust. The week before the conference the corporation spun the international operations into a different group and stuck the domestic operations into a competing division.
During the conference the attendees would not engage in presentations. They responded to case studies, questions, and discussions with prolonged silence. Repeated requests to respond still met with silence. In addition, the headquarters staff tended to tell rather than listen to the staff.
Benefits of Using the 13 Behaviors
Half way through the second day, one of the corporate managers recognized the lack of trust. He stopped in the middle of his presentation and indicated a willingness to stop, listen, and talk.
He openly discussed the challenges facing the division. He indicated the uncertainty and mixed messages of the previous three years. He openly acknowledged that details of the merger and its consequence to the operations were still evolving. He listened to concerns, questions, and worries of field staff. He explained why they followed the themes of the previous director.
To use Covey’s terms, he talked straight (behavior 1), demonstrated respect (behavior 2), created transparency (behavior 3), righted wrongs (behavior 4), showed loyalty (behavior 5), confronted reality (behavior 8), and listened first (behavior 11).
One participant expressed the feelings of her colleagues when she thanked him for the transparency, trust, and respect that he demonstrated.
The trust in the room increased and the rest of the conference proceeded much faster.
Monday we will describe examples of improving the reputation to improve market trust
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