A Team Built on Trust

Many businesses, relationships, companies, treaties and negotiations upon which much of the foundation of our society are built, were based upon the trust of a person’s word, their name, their commitment—or, quite simply, a handshake: “I give you my word, trust me.”

Yet, what is the value of trust?

Today, many do not understand the “sacredness” of trust in a relationship or business. Building trust seems easy as long as you keep your commitment, yet once you lose that trust, you will never really regain it.

Trust is grown through a “common cause” belief system which we often call the mission statement of a group or company.

To build trust within your team, you must be willing to build relationships with each and every individual. A relationship that is built on trusted conversation includes diverse thoughts and ideas.  Honest conversation about issues and topics may touch on the weakness of a person, yet those weaknesses can always be turned into strengths.

You need to hold people accountable for their actions—and be clear about your expectations of their commitments to various action items and projects.

Trust speaks the truth, always. One has to be willing to speak the truth and listen to the other person’s experience or opinion.

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TRUST (n.)

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2. confident expectation of something; hope.

3. confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit to sell merchandise on trust.

4. a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.

5. the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.

6. the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.

7. charge, custody, or care: to leave valuables in someone's trust.

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Why Should I Write a Mission Statement?

When I ask my clients for a mission statement, most of the time they’ll give me the company’s mission, but they rarely have one of their own.  Why?

Whether a company owner, department leader or individual, to write a mission statement is to find your unique purpose.

A mission statement is not only useful in business; it can be equally as beneficial to your personal life. As you grow and evolve, so should your mission statement.

What goes into a mission statement and what is its purpose?

You could begin with the basics such as noting your goals and objectives; however, I like to challenge my clients to really think about why they are doing what they do. What do you believe in? Are you doing something you have believed in since you were young? Would it be the job, career, life path that you have chosen to pursue today?

When asked, “Why do you do what you do?” the answers often range from an interest that developed in school to “It was easy for me,” to “I wanted to make money.”

We can all ‘work to pay the bills,’ and reach a level of ‘success’ —yet how many of us pursue our beliefs or dreams from early on? Most of us have to work, but life is not simply about doing a task. A mission statement helps to make work more enjoyable.

Success is an interesting term—and it’s often associated with financial gain. Yet, the only thing I know that truly makes money is the mint. What is the depth of happiness from money if you will always be chasing it? When you follow your heartfelt dreams, money will follow and happiness will be part of your daily life both professionally and personally.

As you go through the process of writing down thoughts, start you’re your interests and involvements, believe and begin to see the mission statement form.

A mission statement prevents you from ‘getting stuck.’ It creates a focus from which stems self-confidence. A mission statement should be a living, breathing document that you visit from time-to-time, so that your beliefs are always in line with your evolving aspirations and dreams. Ultimately, a mission statement will give you an understanding of your purpose.

Are You Listening or Do You Just Hear The Noise?

Before you begin reading this article, I encourage you to turn everything off and take a moment to breathe and listen to the silence of your surroundings. Clear your head…and turn off the noise.

For the last several years when meeting with groups or individuals, the first thing I request is that we take a moment to turn off cellphones and computers, take off our watches, and stop running the mental to-do list constantly through our minds.

Why?

When you take a deep breath and clear everything away, you can actually engage and listen to the content, emotion, thoughts/ideas that are being shared at a particular moment of time. Being an active participant in any discussion, be it personal or private, allows for growth—rather than just walking through the motions of life.

I have noticed over the years that we have lost the gift of truly listening to one another, to engage in thoughts and ideas. Listening leads to so many wonders of life such as innovation, collaboration, respect and understanding of different opinions.

Many years ago, we held a conference to discuss the impact of the computer age and the internet on the modern workforce.  Visionaries and industry experts shared with excitement the speed with which the workforce would be able to communicate with others around the globe. This new revolution, they thought, would make our lives easier, allowing for shorter workdays and more free time.  This visionary/futurist prediction held true in some ways, but we did not forecast the overwhelming barrage and clutter of information 24/7.  

The technology era has put human resources in a speed warp of time. We are not listening. We only hear words. This impacts the way we work, the way we live, and the way we care for one another as human beings.

I encourage people to truly listen. Many great solutions and innovations have been created through true collaboration in a time-effective way through to achieve the active engagement of conversational sharing.  By slowing down and actually listening to one another, I have seen many challenges, disputes and miscommunications settled quickly, in a respectful and collaborative way.

Listening does work.  I like to say we listen through the heart and we hear from the mind. Yesterday, for example, I was placing an order for a product over the phone. The customer service representative apologized several times for being slow in processing the order. “Your slowness,” I encouraged, “is not from lack of understanding of the technology. We both know that.  It is because you are not truly listening to my request.” If the representative had taken the time to listen properly from the start, there would have been neither mistakes nor time wasted.

I encourage all of us to slow down. Take a moment to turn all the outside noise off and see just how much you will experience and learn from listening—and what you can accomplish in a short amount of time.

Follow these steps:

Going The Extra Mile

I have seen and experienced a shift in today’s professional human capital.

Throughout the tenure of my career, I have had the privilege of interfacing with various levels of people across multiple industries.  Only recently, have I seen and experienced a shift in today’s professional human capital.

When I say “professional human capital,” I am referring to the current workforce in the “traditional” American industries of law, finance, engineering and healthcare.

A societal shift takes place each time man evolves.  At the turn of the 20^th century, for example, society transcended from the Victorian Era to the Industrial Revolution with the introduction of machinery.  Today, we are being transported from the Industrial Era to the ever-changing, fast-paced Technology Revolution. And, just as machinery played a major role in changing the way people worked then, technology is impacting our day-to-day operations.

Through many years of research with individuals and members from small and large companies, I have found that not only has the technology revolution shifted the way we work, it has shifted our beliefs, beginning with the employee all the way up to the leader.

A change in our workforce has been taking place over the last decade. We have become, what I like to term, a “coddled” workforce. I often ask an individual why they are pursuing a particular career and, 8 times out of 10, I am told, “I want to make money and have a nice life.”  Rarely am I told that a particular career path is something they believe in, or is an interest they have always wanted to pursue.

I have seen how the culture of companies is being affected by the new mantra of “It’s a job,” or, “It is not what I can do for the company it is what it the company can do for me.”

This shift influences the ethics and integrity of the core values of a company— from leaders with a lack of vision and mission to team members with a lack of belief and pride in their work.  There is an epidemic of people not willing to go the extra mile on a project— to take on an ownership role or to create a solution for a challenge. 

Most people today seem to have lost the zest of ingenuity that has been the foundational rock of our most successful companies of all time.  To have the attitude of “It is not my responsibility,” indicates that some people have lost their way in pursuing what they believe in. To carry this belief into a company, through all the various life cycles of a project, is detrimental.

So, I encourage many of my clients to step back for a moment when I give them the assignment to ask themselves these questions:  “Why am I doing what I do for my career?”  And,  “Is this something I dream about and am I willing to go the extra mile to pursue?”

If you are doing something with your career that you truly believe in, 

there are no limits as to where it may grow.

Withstanding Challenges

Civilization, companies, ideas and trends come and go. Yet a person, business or organization with a solid foundation of conviction and beliefs will make the commitment to stay fresh and grow without losing site of core values. They will withstand the challenges of an ever-changing world—and often grow to be better. 

Growth in Business: Build a Strong Foundation First

I often reflect upon historic touch points as a reference for my research when developing new projects. One need only to study post-WWII companies and leaders in the fields of entertainment, oil, aerospace and finance, for example, to see the definition of successful navigation over the long term. Sure there were some bumps along the way, but these companies are known for revisiting their core values regularly and for making sure they are always in check.

When working with a client, I like to interview key team members, owners and principals of a company or organization to understand their structure and truly know their core values. As I go through this process on an on-going/regular basis, I have discovered that, more often than not, we lose sight of the core values of the company—what I like to call the foundation. Left ignored, weaknesses in the structure compound and things begin to crumble—in work ethics, integrity and communications.

When a shift from the foundational core values begins to take place in an organization, it is often looked upon as growth, new opportunities or thinking outside the box, which can be looked upon as an economic benefit for the company—at first. Yet as time goes on, and the company goes through a restructuring, unless the new ideas and concepts are built upon the foundational core values of the company, the positive impact of the new concepts will actually falter and ultimately weaken the structure rather than strengthen it.

I am not saying that we should stop being innovative or stop being creative. I believe we must continuously build upon the original foundation of the company’s core values to foster its future economic wellness.

“Civilization, companies, ideas and trends come and go. Yet a person, business or organization with a solid foundation of conviction and beliefs, will make the commitment to stay fresh and grow without losing site of core values. They will withstand the challenges of an ever-changing world—and often grow to be better.”

Will your company be able to withstand the uncertainties of a global economy?

Avoid Falling into Old Habits: How to Stay Energized Long After the New Year

Stepping into the New Year often comes with that list of promising new resolutions to ourselves, full of excitement and vigor that blossom out of the following questions: How can I improve at work? How can I improve at home? With exercising and eating? The list goes on. 

We purchase a stack of business leadership books, download apps, bookmark blogs and articles online--ready reading to give us the “ultimate” tools on how to make our day-to-day lives more innovative and productive in “just ten easy steps.”

Yet, in time, the euphoria of our resolutions fades away as the demands of our day-to-day work operations mount. Suddenly, we fall into old habits.  This process happens in our work life just as it does with a new exercise or diet regimen. We start with great commitment, begin to see changes, feel more energy, then, when the effort becomes more of a routine, enthusiasm becomes boredom from doing the same thing over and over again. Slowly, our new habits feel only like more work and we stop trying. We go back to old habits – because those habits are comfortable, not to mention easy. 

I recently shared my observations of this cycle with a client who I had worked with for several years.  We created and implemented several organizational processes and tools with his team to improve communications and enhance productivity for his department. In our conversation, he shared that he was having several challenges with his department in the coordination and collaboration of work and productivity.  We tried to determine what could be the root cause of the shift in the once-collaborative working environment we had developed the year before.  I asked him if his department was still using the tools we had implemented.  Sure enough, after a long pause, he quietly answered, “No.”  He explained that everyone was so busy catching up after the holidays on projects that they hadn’t had time to implement the tools. As we concluded our conversation, I encouraged my client to get off the fast moving treadmill and take the time to pull the team together and reintroduce the tools because I know that these tools would help them grow and be more productive in the long run.  

Just like a workout regimen or a change in diet, it takes work to apply the practical tools we create. We are made to keep moving forward in our professional and personal lives and there is always room for improvement. Let go of the tools that have outlived their usefulness and concentrate on those that improve process or productivity in order to keep moving forward. Tools should be revisited on a regular basis for improvements and efficiencies in order to empower continued growth in the individual and the organization as a whole.  

Working at new ideas and solutions builds upon enriched core values and supports the growth of wellness of any group, business or organization.