When I read this in Speed of Trust, I immediately could relate. There is this rumbling, anxious feeling when no trust is present. I hesitate. There is a open, connected feeling when trust is present. I share. Over the last few months, probably as a result of the experiences I had at the organization which virtually crumbled in front of my eyes, I have had a keen interest in trust and its impact. Looking at myself, others and organizations, I have been listening, reading and discussing this topic of trust. Even last Sunday at church, the message was about trust.

Learning how to create trust in a low trust world, as Stephen M.R. Covey speaks about, will help us navigate with more confidence and will make an enormous difference in both our personal and professional life.

For you and I as individuals, Covey explains that both character and competence are necessary. Effective leaders today must know how to balance character and competence. Effective leaders must model trust and show trust. When most of us think about character, we think of it in terms of being a good or sincere person, being honest and having integrity. This is how most of us would describe trust. Yet after reflecting on Covey’s writings, I began to understand how trust is a function of character and competence. Covey explains how both are vital:

Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record. And both are vital.

As I explore this aspect of trust by asking “Who do I trust?, Why do I trust them? and What inspires my confidence in them?” and “Who trusts me?, Why do they trust me? and What is it about me that inspires their confidence in me?,” I really understand how character and competence are intertwined. In my role as an executive, I recall many times, when I had an employee who was of good character; however, I would not trust them to do a particular project because they lacked the set of skills or track record of results to effectively handle it. I also recall situations when an employee had a track record of results and yet they left me feeling suspicious of their motives and I questioned their honesty. Covey further explains that,

Character is constant; it’s necessary for trust in any circumstance. Competence is situational; it depends on what the circumstance requires.

Understanding and being more aware of these aspects as a foundation for trust will certainly make a difference as I lead and continue to build the necessary relationships for my success, my business success and the success of my team. As many of you who have worked with me know, I place a high importance of really defining and communicating your leadership values (character) as well as knowing your strengths and accomplishments (competence). So take a moment to ask yourself these questions: Who do you trust? Who trusts me? How is my character and my competence affecting my relationships? It is worth your time to do so!

Bob spoke about the four critical factors any hiring manager and their boss’s manager must consider in the candidates they are reviewing for an open position. The four factors are Experience, Talent, Culture and Time Span. Of these four factors, Time Span is the most critical and Experience the least critical. Bob’s provides a great overview of this concept in the interview. He also made some great recommendations on the preparation the management team must do to avoid the high costs of a poor fitting hire.

For a short time only, a complimentary replay of this interview is available – Hiring The Right Person

What happens when you are pulling your hair out because your employee is messing up, daydreaming at their desk, or is difficult to work with? What is your employee really costing you and the business?

These are just a few of the questions that will be answered in this month’s Conversations with Leaders interview. Listen here for more details on this upcoming interview…

Listen to Susan’s Message » (1:27)

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No longer brushing them under the rug but instead placing the issue square in the center of the table for discussion. It means not shying away and instead being genuine and direct about issues that may be affecting people’s hearts and minds. Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, states, that good-to-great companies infused their decision making processes with “the brutal facts of reality.”

He further shares that Pitney Bowes executive Fred Purdue was quoted as saying “My job is to turn over rocks and look at the squiggly things, even if what you see can scare the hell out of you.” Are you talking about the ‘scary squiggly things’ that might impede your or your organization’s future? Claim your copy of my ebook, 101 Reasons To Be A Passionate Leader: Why Developing Your Leadership Is Critical Today!

Are you dealing with your own career issues? Are you looking at your personal and professional life balance? Are you performing with the level of confidence that will drive your success? Take a look at my upcoming Leadership Coaching Program starting soon… Living Confidently!

Title: Conversations with Leaders
Link: Click here
Description: Leadership Expert interview with Robert Holland – Hiring Quality Employees: Leaders Need To Get It Right!
Start Time: 1:00 pm
Date: 2010-03-11
End Time: 2:00 pm

2) Trust affects everything. Trust affects performance. Covey explained that where an organization had high trust, performance was multiplied. If there is low or no trust, all strengths of the organization are viewed through the lens of “I do not trust this person.” A Watson Wyatt study of high trust organizations found a 286% total return to shareholders in high trust organizations. Covey specified how in the area of strategic planning, high trust won’t rescue a bad strategy but will create an environment in the organization for discussion on the strategy. In contrast, low trust will derail a good strategy for the environment is one where they can’t talk about it.

3) We are operating increasingly in a low trust world. All types of organizations are experiencing a shift – media, churches, business , government. And, society generally is living in a low trust environment as recent studies show only 34% of people in the US believe people can be trusted. There is a crisis in trust.

Wow, it is one thing to sense the shift and quite another to have studies validate the feeling as being more common. Having just come from an organization where low trust was rampant, I fully understand the impact it has on an organization, its clients and the employees and their families. As a leader it was frustrating yet so necessary to stay focused on empowering one employee at a time to deal with the low trust environment. In coaching the executives, it was demanding that they deal with their own self trust and dig deep to stabilize the environment, by dealing with credibility issues, having the straight talk discussions, creating transparency… For this organization, unfortunately the crisis of trust was deep and could not be overcome resulting in massive layoffs and a total dismantling of services for clients who had come to rely on them. The impact of low trust is still being felt.

Thankfully, Stephen continued to talk about what a leader can do to create trust and the huge advantage it provides for the leader and her stakeholders to navigate confidently in a low trust world. Over the next several weeks, I will explore this critical leadership skill more fully and the effective techniques that Covey shared in building trust. Check back to see how you can build this leadership competency for yourself and your team.

Please go there now and read through the curriculum to
preview the material. This transformational (really!)
4-part teleseries with Blair Singer starts tomorrow Tuesday, February 9th.

All recordings and notes will be available if you can’t make
the calls live. The deadline to register is Monday, February
8th at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Get registered now
to get a headstart with the PDF version of the book so you
can prepare for Module 1.

Learn how to …
Master Your Little Voice

Hope to see you on the call!

“The #1 CEO on their list is Steve Jobs who delivered a whopping 3188% industry-adjusted return after he rejoined Apple as CEO in 1997, when the company was in dire shape. From that time until the end of September 2009, Apple’s market value increased by $150 billion.”