I'd like to tell a short story to give an example of how my own wrong assumptions of trust made an already difficult situation even more difficult and inhibited the access to information required to make informed decisions.
The (wrong) assumption - trustworthiness by virtue of role and responsibility.
I had joined a larger business in a leadership role and part of my responsibility was to look after a subsidiary business which had just been downsized for various reasons. A core staff compliment remained, some on reduced salaries, in order to maintain the existing customer base. They all reported to a general manager (I'll call him Simon) who in turn reported to me. The plan was to continue business as usual and then see if we can pivot the business. Morale in the business was low as you would imagine under the circumstances.
Having just joined the larger business with its own set of challenges I intuitively decided to make the subsidiary's team part of the corporate culture and staff meetings, thereby reinforcing a sense of belonging and team culture across both businesses. What I didn't do was to sit down with the general manager and build report with him, nor did I really appreciate the value of leadership in difficult circumstances, at the time.
As time went by, we established a senior leadership team who provided weekly feedback on progress and business challenges. Unlike the other GM's I struggled however to get information out of Simon. I continually had to go back to him to ask for additional information. He seemed to only share the bare minimum and only provide information when it was asked. This created a difficult situation for me who had to make judgments on the progress of the business, not trusting the information which I received. I started getting frustrated with him which in turn caused me to perceive him as an under-performer, even going as far as to contemplate how he could be replaced. Regarding myself as obviously being trustworthy, he clearly was being insubordinate and not taking initiative to help drive the business forward. I mean, I was the one responsible for making the decisions here. Wouldn't you agree that I was justified in my views of the situation?
Actually, I was not. You see, I had not taken the time and effort to build trust with Simon, I was too focused on what needed to be done in the business. I only realised this after a workshop with the management team where I shared some of my own mistakes and faults. There were also an opportunity for each of the team members to express their views and provide input. After the workshop Simon approached me and mentioned to me that he really valued the workshop and that he realised that I care for the people in the business. I expressed my appreciation to him for taking the initiative of coming to talk to me and also invited him to do that any time he felt the need to do so.
Things changed. Suddenly Simon started providing more information and also highlighted some potential risks in the business which needed addressing, something he hadn't done before (as he did not trust me or my leadership), ultimately helping us to address the risk and avoid potential financial damage. I had wrongfully assumed he trusted me because of my role.
The bottom line is, if I had intentionally decided to build trust with Simon from the start, I could have potentially helped the business (based on accurate information) in the right direction a lot sooner than the actual time it took.
Have you seen this in your organisations / teams as well? What wrongful trust assumptions have you made and are willing to share? I'd love to hear from you.
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