Management idea

Don't you trust me? Management doesn't trust us.  Team members say they don't trust each other.  Why do you want to know, don't you trust me?  

Perhaps these all sound familiar because trust is a powerful and necessary lubricant for an organization. It is essential if you are going to successfully delegate. Trust is built from three Cs - Character, Competence, and Caring.

Often when you ask an employee a question they angrily respond with "Don't you trust me?" Don't blow the comment off with a quick "Of course I do!"  Consider the truth in the question and determine what it will take for you to unconditionally answer yes.

One of our client's frustrated CEO wasn't seeing the results he needed from his sales group.  Whenever he started asking questions he was blocked by the killer question  - "Don't you trust me?"  He finally came out and said "No! Unless I understand how you reached your conclusions and developed your strategy I can't trust your competence. Until I understand how your sales compensation plan matches our corporate strategy and goals I can't trust that you care about the company's goals. Until I see work in progress metrics I can't trust your character."

Unfortunately he was too late. The company ran out of cash because 15% of the previous year's booked revenue was based on a lie from their Australian distributor.  When the CEO and Sales Manager actually flew to Australia to collect overdue receivables they found out that the "customers" hadn't even been interested enough to install a trial.  The CEO found out the hard way that he couldn't trust his sales organization, or manager.

RUN WITH THE Big dogS™ newsletter

Every week the strategic planning facilitators of Myrna Associates interact with the executive teams of the best managed mid-sized companies in America.  The weekly RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS™ newsletter shares an idea generated in one of those meetings. The companion  RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS™ CEO interviews discusses a single management topic with a mid-sized company leader.