In The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey teaches us that trust is the foundation for everything we do as individuals, teams and organisations.
Common examples are micromanaging from managers, new team members not asking for help or sharing ideas, team members hiding mistakes or errors, power plays, sabotage, and the avoidance of feedback or tough conversations.
He explains that trust is an accelerator – it affects the speed at which we can move and the cost of everything. When there’s low trust in any team, culture, organisation, society or relationship, speed goes down and cost goes up.
I often share a story with my clients of a situation where I got to see an obvious and tangible positive outcome that came from two clients who share a strong relationship.
The two men (both real estate agents) have a wonderfully close relationship despite being quite different in their nature. One is a natural talker (some might say typical real estate agent!) and the other is more reserved and introverted. The story goes that they were doing an appraisal at a couple’s house and the talker was doing what he does best, to the point where his colleague decided that perhaps the couple had heard enough. So, he reached out and stood on his foot. The unspoken message of course was ‘shut up’.
When sharing this story with other clients, we discuss what would’ve or could’ve happened had they not had such a strong relationship. When would the feedback have been given? “On the drive back to the office” or “never” are the responses we get. In fact, the most likely scenario is that the frustrated teammate goes home to their partner and vents there that they missed out on a listing because their colleague wouldn’t stop talking during the appraisal.
And the result of this? Speed goes down. Cost goes up – in this case, the cost of missed business.
So, a question worth reflecting on is: whose foot can you stand on in your team? What does this mean for the team and the business? And just as importantly, who else in the team – if your relationship was stronger and you felt comfortable enough to “step on their foot” – would help you move faster?
And… what are you prepared to do about it?
Reference:
Covey, Stephen M.R. (2006). The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. Free Press.
