The #1 Job in America Today

I am emotionally exhausted. I realized this when I went to a restaurant to pick up my takeout order the other day. I felt the barista had an attitude when he said my order was not received. He suggested I ordered a new one. I was upset. The last thing I wanted to deal with that day was someone with a condescending attitude. After all, I am the one that has to calculate every move I make when taking walks in my neighborhood and prove that my blackness is not a crime or a threat to society. Given all that was going on in the country; COVID-19, Floyd protests, and Black Lives Matter, it had begun to take its toll.

I stepped out of the restaurant to speak with my wife and I realized the order was placed in my name and not hers. As I was going back in, I took a moment to process how I was feeling. I asked myself if I was being sensitive? Was the barista really rude? Was I projecting that the fact he was white, there was an extra meaning about his attitude?"

I went back in and gave him my name and he gave me my order. As I was about to leave, he said, "Thank you, brother." It hit me hard. Why did he say that? He didn't have to say that. Five minutes before, I was entertaining the thought that he had white allergies, and now, those words seemed to be his way of connecting with me - I see you, I hear you, and I feel your pain." His acknowledgment meant a lot to me. It occurred to me that there are probably many people like him who lack the courage to say it out loud. It was another reminder for me not to rush to judgment, and to challenge my assumptions. On further reflection, the following were my takeaways:

The #1 job in America right now is for all of us to do the work of reconciliation: According to the Meriam-Webster dictionary, Reconciliation is, "The act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement. : the process of finding a way to make two different ideas, facts, etc., exist or be true at the same time." There is a lot of tension in the country right now and people are taking sides. I believe we are all created equal, and that all lives matter. In addition, I know that Black lives are disproportionately affected when it comes to police brutality, income inequality, workplace opportunities, even access to healthcare during this current COVID-19 pandemic. The point shouldn't be Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter. For example, If you step on a nail, it is natural to attend to the hurting foot first. Attending to that foot first does not mean that the other foot is not equally important. You need both feet to be healthy to be in your best form. Similarly, we should all focus on how we can address the current pain, and then ensure that we have an inclusive environment where all groups can thrive.

Give Grace: From my experience with the cashier, I could have given him grace by assuming positive intent. I don't know what challenges or struggles he is going through, and frankly, I might have been the person overreacting. It is more imperative during difficult times to give grace. In the absence of a grace-filled environment, people will not speak up for fear of saying the wrong things. And, it is easy to label silence as indifference and signs of white allergies. We must extend grace to all parties. Be curious. Listen and learn from those who are different from you. Do not let your doubts overshadow your desire to be human.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. They must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Nelson Mandela

Be slow to judge others: You and I have lenses through which we view the world. You do not see things as they are, but as you are. Are your lenses getting in the way of reconciliation? Are you daily conversations building bridges or walls? Just like you judge yourself by your intentions, and not your actions, why not extend that same courtesy to others that are different from you? Rather than calling people out, call them up.

Have more first-hand encounters: I have been told by my white friends that I am "different" from many black folks. The truth is, I am not. I hear this because my friends have come to know me as a person, and not the stereotype they had in their minds. Stereotypes are one-sided stories. Having regular interactions with people different from you is what breaks stereotypes down.

Forgive: Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Refuse to keep company with bitterness and anger. If you want to be free from the pain of the past, honor it, and release it. Where you are headed is greater than where you have been.

Some of George Floyd's last words were, "I can't breathe." We know what happened. What side of history are you going to be on? Are you going to help America breathe again or are you going to take the oxygen out of every room and conversation that you are in? George also cried out, "Mamma". He knew that during the toughest times and the darkest of days, you can count and bet on the love of a mother. Similarly, America is in pain right now. She is crying out your name. Are you going to answer her call? Are you going to become a reconciliation agent?

George Floyd: What's Next?

What happened to Ahmaud Arbery struck me. I am the father of two amazing boys, and I can't imagine what his mother, children, and loved ones are going through right now. Like Arbery, I go for walks in my neighborhood, and I have to calculate every move I make. When garage doors open, I look away for fear that someone might call the cops that a black man is loitering. Real or perceived, it is a burden that many people who look like me face in America today.

What happened to George, that could have been me. George's funeral is today. The question is, what happens next? The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting claimed the lives of 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members. I was convinced it was a watershed moment in America. Unfortunately, 8-years later, nothing much has changed. As the world watches and protesters from all over the world cry out for change and justice, I am hoping real progress will be made this time. Our window of opportunity closes each day. There is no better time than now to make change happen. Something else will dominate the news cycle, life will return to the COVID-19 normal, and if we are not careful, we will move on.

I appreciate the show of love and support from my leadership team, church community, colleagues, friends, and even strangers. The common question is, "What can I do to help? Before we get to the solutions space, we all need to take a look in the mirror. What is the quality of my relationships with people who look different from me? Have I taken the time to learn and understand their stories? Do I know how their skin color may be contributing to their pains, fears, challenges, or opportunities? Is my action or inaction contributing to the solution or problem? These questions are essential because as long as someone or a group of people are in the stranger category to you, suspicion, stereotypes, and fear would shapen your mindset. As we can see over and over again, the results of this mindset have been fatal for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and threatened Christian Cooper.

Reflecting on the question, "How can I help" my response is, "What can we all do to foster an environment where we can become more of friends and less of strangers to each other? Even when the news cycle changes, below are some tips that can help you in your journey:

Be Curious: Be attentive to your thoughts, feelings, and understand how they frame your mindset and behaviors. Also, seek to understand what drives people different than you, and match your response to the situation. For starters, you can watch former Longhorn linebacker Emmanuel Acho's 9-minute virtual conversation with white America, to educate and inform on racism, system racism, social injustice, rioting, and the hurt African Americans are feeling today.

Be a Friend: Start by asking, "Are you following what's going on in the news? How are you doing? How can I help." Silence is not always golden. Like MLK said, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

Family: Have a conversation with your children and younger ones to let them know how you feel about what is going in. Educate them about the importance of celebrating and valuing differences. If we are going to break the wheel of hate in this country/world, we need to ensure we are equipping the next generation.

Be Fearless: Step up to address difficult issues. It is natural to feel uncomfortable having an awkward conversation with someone different than you. Reach out anyway. A text, phone call, email, or IM can go along way to show you care. Conversations are what turn strangers into friends, and build thriving communities.

Expand Your Circle: make a conscious effort to build relationships and network outside your comfort zone. It is easier to collaborate and take risks with someone you trust.

Take Action: Step out of your comfort zone and be a sponsor, ally, or mentor to someone at work or your local community. If you see something, say, and do something. Love is a verb. It goes beyond thoughts and words. Be the change you want to see.

I am hopeful that we will rebound from these setbacks. I also know that hope by itself is not a strategy. It must be backed up by our actions. This is not a black fight. It is our fight. It is a fight for the soul of humanity. No one group has all the answers, and no one group should bear all the burden. We are all in this together. We need each other to make this world a better place. Imagine what we can achieve when we all work together in unity.

What role are you going to play? How do you want to be remembered? How can we ensure that we have lasting change this time around?

DARE...

I remember a question my parents used to ask me, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answers changed depending on what was going on around me. An experience that stood out to me was with my advanced mathematics teacher in high school. I remember asking him about a formula he had written on the blackboard. He didn't take kindly to it. I had the highest score during our first homework quiz, and he ridiculed me in front of the entire class. This experience shattered my confidence, and I eventually dropped the class.

On reflection, my teacher psychologically bullied me, and I lost faith in myself. Like me, you might have been told in subtle ways, "You will not make it. You are not good enough. You don't belong here. You don't have enough experience." You may have been overlooked for a promotion or someone took credit for your work. These experiences can weaken your resolve and tempt you to cut your dream down a size. You have a choice to make. You can believe your nay-sayers and throw in the towel, or you can choose not to listen to them and hold your head high. Thanks to a great support system, I was able to find myself again. I made a promise never to let other people's opinions become my facts.

Never let other people's opinions become your facts

Can you imagine what we would be missing today if the following people had listened to their critics and given up? Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because, his editor said, he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Oprah Winfrey was a news reporter and got fired because she couldn’t sever her emotions from her stories. Abraham Lincoln went to war as a Captain but came back as a much lower Private. He failed as a businessman, and he lost several runs for public office. JK Rowlings' "Harry Potter" novel was rejected 13 times until one publisher took a chance on her. Critics told Barrack Obama that he didn't have enough experience, and America was not ready for a black president.

As you can see, some of the leaders we admire today were not initially recognized. But, they all had a can-do attitude and believed the only limits that existed were the ones they placed on themselves.

Personally, many people ask me why and how I made the switch from having a Ph.D. in chemistry to being an author, organizational and leadership coach, trainer, and speaker. The why – I am following my passion. The how? It wasn't easy. It was a 10-year journey. I can't count the number of rejections I received. Some people thought I was having a career crisis. In the final phase of my career transition, I did two day-jobs for four months to make the switch. Someone pressed the golden buzzer, and I am grateful it has paid off. Do I miss my engineering arena? Yes. Do I have any regrets? No. I have learned no experience is wasted. My technical background has been invaluable in my toolbox.

“Even though there are days I wish I could change some things that happened in the past, there’s a reason the rearview mirror is so small and the windshield is so big - where you’re headed is much more important than what you’ve left behind.”...Anonymous

Pursuit is the evidence of desire. As you pursue your dreams, remember to take the following dares with you:

Dare to be you: Accept your individuality and embrace your originality. Not everyone is going to like you or what you have to offer. That is okay. Instead, focus your energy on discovering the people, places, and projects that bring out the star in you.

Dare to believe: Belief is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dare to believe in yourself and your dreams. This starts with having an honest assessment of your strengths and capabilities. "You can be anything you want to be" holds when you are in your strengths zone. On the flip side, you are your own worst critic. Yes, you need to ignore that negative inner voice that prevents you from showing up.

You can only feature in a future you can picture. Dare to dream big.

Dare to be rejection proof: Go for what you want and not what you think you can get. The latter is about a fixed mindset – cut your coat down a size, while the former is about a growth mindset – create opportunities and possibilities. You know you are stepping out of your comfort zone when you start getting no's. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.

Dare to bring others along: One is too small a number to achieve greatness. Big dreams require you to have a board of directors (friends, mentors, advisers) through life's journey. Oprah, Disney, Obama, Lincoln, Rowlings couldn't have done it alone. Like the Nigerian proverb says, "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk with a team."

Dare to do it afraid: As they say, half of success is showing up. Dare to do it afraid. You are stronger than you think. With the right attitude, you can reach your altitude. All it takes is one step at a time. Yes, you will fall at times, but get back up again. The bend of a road is not the end of the road. You don't want to live the rest of your life thinking "shoulda coulda woulda"

You are stronger than you think. Get back up and get in the arena. It is not over until you win!

You can't undo the past, but you can rewrite the future. The actions you take today will determine the possibilities you will create tomorrow. Like the sun that rises every day, rise up and give your dreams a fighting chance. Your best days are ahead of you. What are you waiting for? Dare!

As always, I would like to hear your thoughts and experiences.

#Leadership #Courage #Culture #Business #Growth #Mindset

Culture: The Third Leg

As an amateur photographer, I now appreciate the importance of having a tripod both for the quality of my pictures and the safety of my camera. I have been a victim of improvisation (placing my camera on books) and I ended up ruining my camera. As the Brits would say, "I was penny wise, but pounds foolish."

Similarly, think of your organization as a three-legged stool. If all the legs are in place and balanced, you have a stable and productive stool. If just one of the legs is short, you have an unstable tool. Instability in an organization has consequences; loss of focus, productivity, morale, attrition, etc. The three legs that ensure an organization's stability and success are strategy, execution, and culture (mindset, behaviors, and experiences). Your culture is like the third leg of a three-legged stool. When your culture is taken for granted, your organization will become grounded. I find that, just as I improvised with my camera, leaders take shortcuts with their organizational cultures by:

• Delegating and making it an HR-driven agenda

• Rewarding and advancing people who deliver business results even when it is counter to the organizational espoused beliefs. Also, when you fail to address undesired behaviors, you positively reinforce it.

• Treating culture as a program or initiative

• Not connecting the routine work of employees to results and culture

• Lack of leader role modeling.

So, how do leaders ensure they are pro-active and not reactive in fostering a culture that drives results. It starts with having the three-legged stool mindset and doing the following:

• Integrate your culture into every facet of the life cycle of your business.

• Fit your strategy to match your existing culture and not the other way around. If you are not happy with the current culture you have, focus on evolving that. This way, your culture will accelerate the results you want to see.

• Hold yourself and your leadership team accountable to role model your organizational culture. For example, ask yourself, "What more can I do or say right now to role model the behaviors that drive the right mindset?" Also, foster an environment where it is okay to learn from mistakes.

• Reward authentic and desirable behaviors as much as technical competence.

What makes organizations go from good to great is when leaders pay equal attention to strategy, execution, and culture. Your culture can be a sustainable competitive advantage because it can't be copied or bought. Make your culture journey about progress and not perfection.

The Mathematics of Trust

In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (VUCA), leaders are constantly evolving their strategy to ensure they remain competitive and relevant in the long term. With increasing market and customer complexity, organizations need to adapt quickly and execute with velocity to reap the rewards of the first-mover advantage, which can be crucial in having a competitive edge.

This is where it gets complex. Organizations are made up of people and people do not generally like change. If organizations are not nimble enough, they get exchanged in the marketplace. We know and have experienced what happened to Nokia, disruption to the Taxi business by UBER/Lyft, and the impact of online streaming on Blockbuster.

Accelerated results = Strategy x Execution x Trust

For organizations to have accelerated results, it is important that leaders give equal attention to strategy, execution, and fostering trust. The temptation to focus on strategy and execution relative to building trust is understandable, though, it is a big miss. The former is perceived as more tangible and actionable. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2017, 63% of employees don’t trust their leaders. Also, 60% of employees say that strategic and operational decisions are not quickly translated into action. Focusing on building trust at all levels within your organization is key to accelerating results. Here is why.

V = x/t (where V = velocity or speed, x = distance, t = time)

From the formula above, we know that an athlete moving faster (speed) will go farther (x) in the same amount of time (t). And, we can agree that the faster athlete (V) will get to the finish line sooner (t). It follows that if an athlete doubles speed, the distance covered would be doubled. Also, doubling speed means the faster athlete gets to the finish line in half of the time. Instead of the athlete, think of an organization that wants to beat the competition. How can leaders increase the velocity of their organizations to release products/services that delight customers, and increase market share, profitability, and technology leadership?

Let's rewrite the equation as Trust = x/ t (where x can be any of the following = Technology leadership, Change initiative, Innovation, Productivity, Profitability, t = time)

Trust has a direct correlation with velocity. Organizations that are not able to adapt, innovate and reinvent themselves become obsolete. If leaders want to move/transition their organizations from point A to point B in the shortest possible time, their limiting factor is the amount of trust within the organization. When there is trust within a system, the time to get things done and the cost of doing business are reduced. Low trust introduces barriers to swift execution in organizations. When trust is low, projects take longer to complete and the cost of doing business increases. According to Bain's co-heads of global strategy, Chris Zook and James Allen, authors of The Founder's Mentality, they found that when companies fail to achieve their growth targets, 90% of the time the root causes are internal, not external--increasing distance from the front lines, loss of accountability, proliferating processes and bureaucracy, etc. Trust ensures that your internal factors do not become organizational derailers or funerals.

Leaders that take their organizations from good to great understand that trust is an accelerant: it multiplies impact and influence. Without trust, resistance increases and influence diminishes. Trust starts with the leader. Reflect on the following questions: Does your team believe you have their back? Do your thoughts and words match your actions? Do you have a track record of delivering results? Are you clear about priorities? Do you foster an environment for honest and difficult conversations? Do you encourage a mutual exchange of ideas? The answers to these questions can provide clues to the results you are seeing within your organization.

Trust, like money, is the currency for doing business and getting things done with velocity. Trust helps translate ideas into words and words into action. If you are not happy with the results you are seeing in your organization or you want to move faster and go farther, it's time to focus on building trust into your leadership team and organization.

For more articles on trust, check out the following:

How to Build That Trust That Lasts

Transparency: Trust is Not Enough

Leaders: If you care, they care

How do you build trust within your organization?

#Trust #Culture #Engagement #Leadership #Management

5 Habits of Memorable Leaders

In an increasing, volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) landscape, it is no surprise that more people are spending time at work than with their loved ones. This places an emphasis on the quality of work relationships and its impact on our wellbeing. If it is true that employees leave their managers and not their employers, then it is also true that happy employees collaborate, innovate and accelerate results. Leaders, in partnership with HR, need to be more innovative in fostering work environments that attract, retain and motivate their employees.

As a leadership development facilitator, when I ask participants about the characteristics of their best bosses, only 20% say that technical acumen is the most important to them. Overwhelmingly, 80% are looking for managers and leaders who understand the heart-head connection. Simply put, most employees want leaders that know enough to lead the team and have the ability to see, hear and feel what they are going through. They are not looking for technical wizards as bosses. Can you foster trust and a safe place where your team can engage in constructive dialogue? These skills are more valuable to your employees. Be rest assured that you don't have to be the smartest person in the room to become a memorable leader. To attract, retain and motivate your employees in a VUCA environment, below are some tips that can help you become the leader that your people need:

Be Human: According to John Maxwell, a leadership development guru, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Memorable leaders connect with their employees on a personal level because they understand the importance of mutual trust in accelerating results. They connect with their people by seeking to understand their fears, hopes, and dreams. Memorable leaders let you know that you are valued and involve you as much as possible when making decisions that impact you.

Communicate: Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. Memorable leaders are clear about roles and responsibilities, work priorities and what success looks like. Also, they keep their teams informed about how their work connects to the strategic vision of the organization.

Invest in Your People: Memorable leaders equip their people with the skills, network, opportunities and mindset that are needed to be successful. They provide cover and help you navigate and remove roadblocks as you discover passions and create new opportunities. Memorable leaders wear your T-shirt and work with you on a growth plan to ensure your gaps do not become career derailers.

Feedback: Memorable leaders are comfortable admitting that they don't have all the answers. Because of the high degree of trust and psychological safety in the relationship, feedback, coaching, and guidance are provided which results in improved performance.

Culture: They role model desired behaviors and foster a culture that is inclusive and allows collaboration to thrive. In this regard, they are quick to coach and if necessary, help move on individuals that are toxic to the team's health. Memorable leaders reward high performance both on an individual and team level.

While it is incumbent on leaders to create safe spaces and foster a high trust environment, we all have a part to play in ensuring that we make our workplaces a great place to be. Simple things like having lunch with a colleague, showing appreciation to your teammates, and celebrating life events can go a long way in fostering healthy relationships that foster collaboration, innovation and accelerate results.

How do you want to be remembered as a leader? According to Maya Angelou, " I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Memorable leaders focus on bringing out the greatness in others.

What are the attributes of the best boss you have had?

#Bestboss #Trust #Culture #Engagement #Leadership #Management

Connect: A Leader's Key to Influencing

I ran into one of Intel's veteran leaders at the cafe. It was his last week before starting his retirement. I had not met or worked with him before, but I had heard a lot of great things about him. He walked by me and I used the opportunity to say hello and wish him farewell. Our conversation lasted for about 15 minutes, but it's impact on me would last for a long time. It was amazing how a leader could build trust, and get a fan in less than 15 minutes by doing the following:

Be Present: During our entire conversation, I felt I was the most important person in the world. He was fully present, leaned in and listened.

Be Human: He was authentic, inviting, and approachable. There was a genuine interest in getting to know me and my background. I forgot I was speaking with one of our senior leaders.

Be Vulnerable: He was open, curious and asked questions.

It is Not About You: While I was excited to meet him, I left our conversation feeling he was excited to meet me.

Build Trust: After our conversation, he said he would stay in touch. I got an email the following day with his personal contact. Anyone who keeps their word, certainly earns my respect.

I work with a lot of leaders but this encounter stood out to me. He wasn't just communicating, he was connecting with me. According to John Maxwell, "Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them." He added value to me by showing that he valued me as a person.

Leaders are always on stage. Every interaction is an opportunity to build trust. Your ability to connect and tap into the discretionary energy of your team can make or break your vision. If you want to make a difference, it is important to connect with people on a personal level. This is key in influencing others and accelerating results in your business.

What are you going to do to connect with the people within your sphere of influence?

I would love to hear from you. What's your memorable leader connection experience?

#Trust #Culture #Engagement #Leadership #Management

Leadership & Culture

Culture is how organizations behave and act in order to get things done. These behaviors have helped organizations become successful in the past and it is difficult to change because the aspired culture hasn't been proven to deliver results.

Behavioral norms are formed based on leader role modeling and what is rewarded in the business. Like it or not, your culture has created a system that can either help or hinder your growth. The role of leadership is to ensure that the reputation and character of an organization are identical.

From my experience as a culture lead, below are tips that can help leaders accelerate their culture transformation. These are fundamental to employee engagement, productivity, and growth:

1. Hold Up the Mirror: Great leaders don' t ask people to change behaviors or live by values they are not demonstrating themselves. People don't change because we want/tell them to. They change because they want to. Lasting cultural change is inside out. It starts with the leader holding up the mirror and asking the man/woman in the mirror to change first. Rather than tell, show your people what change looks like.

Change is an outer expression of a transformed inner self

2. Leadership Alignment: 100% alignment is essential on the leadership team for desired behaviors to take root in your business. Cultural transformation is leader led. People take cues from their leaders on how they should behave. Bad actors will sabotage your cultural evolution. It is worth stepping back to get your leadership team on the same page before going public.

3. Honor the Past: What made you successful in the past may not be sufficient to create a desired future. Yet, it is important to cherish and celebrate the assets that are working in your existing culture, while embracing new behaviors for the future. People are open to culture transformation as an evolution rather than a revolution. Make it about the journey not the destination.

4. Grace: Once you have articulated your aspirational culture, there should be a grace period to allow people to make mistakes, learn and grow into the new way of being. It takes at least 30 days of doing something daily for it to become a habit. Organizations are a lot more complex. Enroll influencers who are demonstrating the desired behaviors, and reward and recognize early adaptors. This will help get some wind behind your change efforts.

5. Tough Love: Organizations are torn between holding leaders accountable for not demonstrating the desired behaviors because they fear the impact to the business and the bottom line. Such tolerance, more than anything, tells your employees what is rewarded. What is rewarded drives the culture in your organization. If there is no accountability at the top, your culture change will eventually fail. One fly in a bowl of soup makes the whole meal a waste.

6. Empower: I believe whoever sweeps a room should choose the broom. If we are expecting people to act in new ways, we should carry them along in the process. Leaders should articulate and be clear on what success looks like and let the employees be creative on how they are going to get there.

7. Connect: Think about the amount of time the core team took to decide, agree and be bought into the new change effort. How much time do you think you should spend selling this change to the employees? Lasting change has a heart-head connection. Tap into the emotional energy of your team while rolling out your change effort. It starts with telling stories and creating experiences that inspire your team to action.

Change is an outer expression of a transformed inner self. A wise man said, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." Similarly, show me your leaders and I'll show you the future of your business.

I would love to hear from you. What's your experience with leadership and culture?

Trust: Transparency is Not Enough

Year after year, we see a trust decline in leadership in all walks of life. To fix this, the go-to response is a commitment to more communication and transparency. While this helps, it is usually not enough. An absence of trust is an indication that something is broken or missing, which may not be fixed by being more transparent.

For example, if a stranger walked up to you at a bus station and asked you for $50. He needs the money to resolve an urgent matter. In your hesitation, you are probably wondering what the urgent matter is. To be more transparent, he says he needs the $50 to pay for a drug prescription. I think the probability of you responding positively to this request is low. What if someone at your office made the same request. I guess the probability of giving the money to a co-worker is much higher. Why is that? After all, both of them were transparent.

The point is, while the stranger went a click down to provide more information, it probably wouldn't have changed your decision. Why? The person is unknown. You don't know their credibility, history with the truth, reputation, etc. For your co-worker, you know a bit more. The more you interact with a person, he/she moves from the stranger (low trust) to the transactional/friend territory (higher trust). Simply put, interactions foster trust.

When leaders try to foster trust in their organizations, the default is to become more transparent and communicate more. The problem with this strategy is that trust is viewed as a two dimensional concept. Trust in reality is multi-dimensional. For example, if a leader rolls out a new vision or business strategy and senses resistance, the issue might be due to any or all of the following: Do people believe in the vision? Will the current culture support this vision? Do the people know enough about this leader to have blind faith in this vision? Do people believe in the leaders capability?What is the leaders reputation? Are we resourced for this? Does the leader care about me? The answers to these questions will determine the engagement levels of employees and the success of such initiatives/strategy.

While it is impossible to check all the trust boxes, you need to check enough to overcome resistance and gain commitment. Being transparent is just one box. The key to checking more trust boxes is giving your people many opportunities to get to know you, and you know them. Think about it. You didn't get your spouse/partner to say yes by sending only emails (times are changing (smiley face)). You spent quality time together. Each interaction built trust and confidence in the relationship. Similarly, leaders need to create opportunities to build the trust bank of their employees before making withdrawals.

Great leaders know how to touch the hearts of their people before asking for a hand.

Leaders that take their organizations from good to great have mastered how to take trust leaps. As Rachel Botsman puts it, "A trust leap is when we take a risk to do something new or to do it differently from the way that we’ve done something before". For trust leaps to happen in your organization, it is important to understand that people buy into the leader first, before they buy into his/her vision/strategy. Before you are tempted to talk about being more transparent, ask yourself if you are checking enough trust boxes in your organization.

Share your thoughts and let's grow together. How do you build and measure trust in your organization?