{"id":689,"date":"2016-01-20T10:00:38","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T10:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=689"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","slug":"the-toughest-thing-about-the-power-of-trust-is-that-its-very-difficult-to-build-and-very-easy-to-destroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/the-toughest-thing-about-the-power-of-trust-is-that-its-very-difficult-to-build-and-very-easy-to-destroy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renowned business author Patrick Lencioni likes numbers.\u00a0 You can tell by the way he titles some of his books: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family, The Five Temptations of a CEO, and The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.<\/span>\u00a0 So it came as no surprise when I recently happened across a brief article by Lencioni titled, \u201cThe Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to outline his entire team-building program for you (it\u2019s copyrighted), but I do want to use it as a springboard for a discussion about the foundation of Lencioni\u2019s or anyone else\u2019s team-building program.\u00a0 If your company as a whole doesn\u2019t function as a team as well as you\u2019d like, or if individual teams within your company don\u2019t function the way you think they should, please continue reading below.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Tom Watson, IBM<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Any team-building program I\u2019ve ever come across (and I\u2019ve come across a lot of them) starts with getting team members to count on one another, to depend on one another.\u00a0 In short, it starts with building trust.\u00a0 Some programs try to jump start the process of building trust with some gimmicky exercises (like asking each team member in turn to fall over backwards and \u201ctrust\u201d his teammates to catch him), but in my experience, building trust takes time and it takes effort.\u00a0 Shortcuts and gimmicks don\u2019t lead to the kind of deep, long-term trust that a truly effective team must have.<\/span>\u00a0 So let\u2019s look at a few of the things that, over time, will build a strong bond of trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consistency<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0 Honor your promises.\u00a0 Make your word your bond.\u00a0 Team members need\u00a0 to know that that they can count on their fellow team members to do what they say they\u2019re going to do . . . not some of the time, not most of the time, but every time.\u00a0 And this needs to apply to every commitment a team member makes whether it\u2019s bringing a big project in on time and on budget, or stopping for donuts on the way in to work.\u00a0 The attitude needs to be, \u201cIf Mary says she\u2019s going to do it, it\u2019s as good as done.\u00a0 You can take it to the bank.\u201d\u00a0 NOTE:\u00a0 Just to be clear here, we\u2019re talking about \u201cconsistency\u201d in a positive context.\u00a0 If I can always rely on a fellow team member to throw me under the bus every time he or she has a chance, that doesn\u2019t count and is unhelpful to the whole team-building effort.\u00a0 But you already knew that, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

Accountability<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 This goes right along with consistency.\u00a0 If team members are not willing to be held accountable to do what they say they\u2019re going to do, how can anyone trust them to do it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Familiarity<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot easier to build trust if team members relate to one another as friends and colleagues than it is if they only see themselves as co-workers.\u00a0 Trust doesn\u2019t grow very readily if the only bond between team members is that their cubicles happen to be adjacent to one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Respectful communication<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 When trying to solve problems or explore new ideas, robust, even emotional, debate within a team is a healthy thing . . . as long as it stays respectful and professional.\u00a0 But if the debate becomes personal and abusive . . . if team members start attributing unworthy motives to one another . . . trust breaks down.\u00a0 Effective teams learn to disagree without being disagreeable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Integrity<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Be honest.\u00a0 Don\u2019t hold back information or omit important details.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to take personal credit for what the team does.\u00a0 And when you screw up (as we all do from time-to-time), don\u2019t try to cover it up, offer excuses, or shift blame.\u00a0 Just own it, do what you can to fix it, and move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

As noted earlier, this stuff takes time and it takes effort.\u00a0 None of the things discussed here will generate trust overnight.\u00a0 They must be demonstrated over and over and over again until they become ingrained in the team\u2019s DNA, until they become habits.\u00a0 But once real, long-lasting trust has been built and maintained, you will have created the strong foundation for a truly effective, results-oriented team.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renowned business author Patrick Lencioni likes numbers.\u00a0 You can tell by the way he titles some of his books: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family, The Five Temptations of a CEO, and The<\/p>\n

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