The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
Page 9
PART THREE
I feel like I’m not really utilizing my talents in my current job.
1 2 3 4 5
There is a high match between my talents and my opportunities in the work I’m doing.
I have not gained the knowledge or fully developed the skills I need to really be effective at work.
1 2 3 4 5
I have acquired the knowledge and mastered the skills required for my job.
I seldom take time to improve my knowledge and skills at work or in any other area in my life.
1 2 3 4 5
I relentlessly upgrade and increase my knowledge and skills in all the important areas of my life.
I’m not really sure what my strengths are; I’m more focused on trying to improve in my areas of weakness.
1 2 3 4 5
I’ve identified my strengths, and my greatest focus is on using them effectively.
At this point, I really don’t know much about how to build trust.
1 2 3 4 5
I know how to effectively establish, grow, extend, and restore trust, and I consciously work to make it happen.
TOTAL PART THREE SCORE ______________ (Possible 25)
PART FOUR
I don’t have a very good track record. My résumé certainly won’t knock anyone’s socks off.
1 2 3 4 5
My track record clearly gives others the confidence that I will achieve desired results.
I focus my efforts on doing what I’ve been told to do.
1 2 3 4 5
I focus my efforts on delivering results, not activities.
When it comes to communicating my track record, either I don’t say anything (I don’t want to come across as bragging), or I say too much and turn people off.
1 2 3 4 5
I appropriately communicate my track record to others in a way that inspires confidence.
I often fail to finish what I start.
1 2 3 4 5
With rare exception, if I start something, I finish it.
I don’t worry as much about how I get the results—just that I get them.
1 2 3 4 5
I consistently get results in ways that inspire trust.
TOTAL PART FOUR SCORE ______________ (Possible 25)
TOTAL QUESTIONNAIRE SCORE ______________ (Possible 100)
Now take a look at your scores. If your total score is between 90 and 100, you have high personal credibility. You demonstrate both character and competence. Likely, you know what’s important to you and you translate it into action in your daily life. You care about people. You are aware of your own capabilities and you develop and use them effectively to produce positive outcomes. As a result, you feel confident and people tend to trust you.
If your score is between 70 and 90, you may have a bit of a credibility gap, which will manifest itself either in lower self trust or in some degree of failure to inspire the trust of others.
If you scored 70 or below, you likely have a more serious credibility problem. You may want to do some careful analysis of the specific areas in which you gave yourself lower marks. As we go through this chapter, you will be able to focus on specific ways to improve in those areas.
THE 4 CORES
Each part in the questionnaire corresponds to one of the “4 Cores of Credibility.” These are the foundational elements that make you believable, both to yourself and to others. You will recognize them as the same elements that would prove or destroy your credibility as an expert witness in a court of law.
The first two cores deal with character; the second two with competence. And all four are necessary to self trust.
Core 1: Integrity
The first core deals with issues of integrity. This is what most people think about when they think of trust. To many, “integrity” basically means “honesty.” While integrity includes honesty, it’s much more. It’s integratedness. It’s walking your talk. It’s being congruent, inside and out. It’s having the courage to act in accordance with your values and beliefs. Interestingly, most massive violations of trust are violations of integrity.
Core 2: Intent
The second core deals with issues of intent. This has to do with our motives, our agendas, and our resulting behavior. Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based on mutual benefit—in other words, when we genuinely care not only for ourselves, but also for the people we interact with, lead, or serve. When we suspect a hidden agenda from someone or we don’t believe they are acting in our best interests, we are suspicious about everything they say and do.
Both integrity and intent are matters of character.
Character is revealed not by how many powerful people you impress, but how you treat people who lack power.
—ADAM GRANT, WHARTON PROFESSOR AND AUTHOR
Core 3: Capabilities
The third core deals with issues of capabilities. These are the abilities we have that inspire confidence—our talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and style. They are the means we use to produce results. A family doctor might have integrity and his motives might be good, but unless he’s trained and skilled to perform the task at hand (brain surgery, for example) he’ll be lacking in credibility in that area. Capabilities also deal with our ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust.
Core 4: Results
The fourth core deals with issues around results. This refers to our track record, our performance, our getting the right things done. If we don’t accomplish what we are expected to do, it diminishes our credibility. On the other hand, when we achieve the results we promised, we establish a positive reputation of performing, of being a producer . . . and our reputation precedes us.
Both capabilities and results are matters of competence.
A good leader is probably no different in any culture in the sense that a good leader must have credibility. That is something one establishes . . . based on the way one handles himself and by his established track record.
—DR. VICTOR K. FUNG, GROUP CHAIRMAN, LI & FUNG
As I’ve said, each of these cores is vital to credibility not only in a court of law, but in any situation. For example, you may have a person who has great integrity, good intent, and a marvelous track record. But if he/she doesn’t have the capabilities necessary for a particular job, you won’t trust that person to do that job. Or you may have a person who has great integrity, is extremely capable, and has produced excellent results. But if you sense that he/she doesn’t really care about you or about your “win” in a particular negotiation, you won’t fully trust that person in that situation. In the following chapters, as we look at each core in depth, we will consider the impact of not having that particular core. We will also consider the impact of having that core, but not the other three.
Many of the people you interact with at this point will not recognize these vital 4 Cores of Credibility as parts of the greater whole. They won’t realize that your credibility has four dimensions and that you can rate high in some and low in others. They will only see the whole—either you have credibility or you don’t.
That’s one reason why it’s so important for you to understand these 4 Cores. They will help you understand your own credibility and focus on areas where you need to improve. They will give you the wisdom to know how to behave to establish trust. And, as we’ll discuss later, they will also give you the judgment to learn how to extend “Smart Trust” to others.
Ask yourself . . . mercilessly: Do I exude trust? E-x-u-d-e. Big word. Do I smack of “trust”? Think about it. Carefully.
—TOM PETERS
One way to visualize the importance of all 4 Cores of Credibility is through the metaphor of a tree. Integrity is essentially below the surface. It is the root system out of which everything else grows. Intent becomes somewhat more visible. It is the trunk that emerges from beneath the surface out into the open. Capabilities are the branches. They a
re the capacities that enable us to produce. Results are the fruits—the visible, tangible, measurable outcomes that are most easily seen and evaluated by others.
To look at the 4 Cores of Credibility in this way will enable you to see the interrelatedness of all four and the vital importance of each. It will also help you see credibility as a living, growing thing that can be nurtured. As we go through each of the cores, we will come back to this metaphor of the tree to look more specifically at why each is important and how it relates to the other three.
CHARTING YOUR COURSE
With an understanding of the 4 Cores of Credibility, I’d like you to now go back to the questionnaire results on pages 53 to 55 and reconsider your scores.
Part
Core
Score
1
Integrity
2
Intent
3
Capabilites
4
Results
Total
• • •
What are your strengths? Which areas need the most improvement?
Whatever your current level of credibility, I am convinced this material will help. At the very least, it will give you language to understand and talk about credibility and trust issues and make them actionable. One of my associates who has taught the Speed of Trust content for several years now recently said, “It’s not that I was not credible to begin with. But simply becoming more aware of these things, having a language to talk about them, and behaving in ways that inspire trust has dramatically increased my credibility and my ability to influence others.”
As you read the following chapters, be aware that these 4 Cores of Credibility apply not only individually, but also organizationally. A vice president of marketing in a large company recently told me that these 4 Cores would become their marketing blueprint. He said, “We need to be credible as an organization. We need to ensure that customers understand our reputation around integrity. We need to declare our intent to help them win. We need to show them our capabilities to add value to their organizations. We need to demonstrate our results and track record to them so that they will stay with us. The net result of all of this will be credibility, and with that credibility we’ll be able to establish and sustain long-term relationships of trust. Our business has already demonstrated that long-term trust relationships are the key to profitable growth.”
Our purpose in the next four chapters is to explore each of the 4 Cores in depth—to understand more about what they are, why they are vital to credibility and trust, and how we can improve them in a way that increases trust on every level from the inside out. At the end of each chapter, I’ve zeroed in on the three top “accelerators,” or focused things you can do to make the greatest difference. I suggest you read each of the chapters for understanding and context, then go back and start with the one or two action steps you feel will make the greatest difference for you.
* * *
1. For information on measuring trust for a person, on a team, or in an organization, or a sample report, go to www.speedoftrust.com/book-promises.
CORE 1—INTEGRITY
ARE YOU CONGRUENT?
I look for three things in hiring people. The first is personal integrity, the second is intelligence, and the third is a high energy level. But, if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.
—WARREN BUFFETT, CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
A few years ago, in the third round of the Italia Masters tournament in Rome, tennis champion Andy Roddick was paired against Fernando Verdasco from Spain. It was match point in favor of Roddick. When Verdasco hit his second serve, the line judge called the ball “out,” and the crowd began to cheer for Roddick. Verdasco moved toward the net to shake hands, as if the match were over.
But Andy Roddick didn’t accept the point. Instead, he said that the ball was “in” and called the umpire’s attention to a slight indentation on the clay court which showed that the ball had landed on—not beyond—the line. Surprised, the umpire allowed Roddick to overrule him and the point was awarded to Verdasco.
Everyone was amazed. In a game not typically played on the honor system—but on the umpire’s calls—Roddick had made a call against himself and went on to lose the match.
Though Andy Roddick lost the match that day, he gained something far greater. He gained credibility. He gained trust. How did this display of integrity give him credibility? Look at it this way: How are the umpires going to respond the next time Andy Roddick challenges a call? Most likely, they will treat his challenge with the utmost respect. His reputation is known; his credibility will precede him.
Also, how do you think Andy Roddick felt about himself? How might he have felt if he chose to accept the win, knowing all along that the ball really wasn’t out?
Andy Roddick’s behavior on the court that day has become a symbol to me of what I now call “the Roddick Choice”—demonstrating integrity even when it is costly. It illustrates the clear connection between integrity, credibility, and trust—both with others and with ourselves.
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.
—OPRAH WINFREY
To use the metaphor of the tree, integrity is the root. Even though it’s underground and not even visible most of the time, it is absolutely vital to the nourishment, strength, stability, and growth of the entire tree. We’ve all seen people with enormous capability, strong results, even sometimes good intent who unfortunately go about what they’re doing in a dishonest or unprincipled way. It’s “the ends justify the means” mentality. It leads to manipulation, deceit, fraud, extortion, and corruption. It ends up in corporate scandals, and in the betrayals that destroy marriages and relationships of every kind. Going back to the metaphor of the expert witness, there’s no way a person would be considered credible if the other side could prove that she lacked integrity.
On the other hand, to have integrity only—and not the other three cores—is to be a “nice guy,” maybe even a thoroughly honest person, who is basically useless. In our tree metaphor, he’s like a stump—not good for much. You might trust him to keep a confidence, but there’s no way you would trust him to get anything done. He is honest—but irrelevant.
Again, all four cores are vital to credibility and trust.
THE PROBLEM WITH THE RENAISSANCE OF “ETHICS”
So what is integrity? In today’s world, many people equate integrity with “ethics.” Perhaps at least one good outcome of the recent increase in corporate and other scandals is that it has incited a virtual renaissance of ethics. And most people recognize that the lack of ethics in today’s world promotes distrust.
The problem in organizations, however, is that many “ethics” solutions focus on compliance. The compliance definition of “ethics” is not one of integrity or integratedness; it is a watered-down, devalued definition that essentially means “follow the rules.” Ethics training, therefore, is often focused exclusively on conformity to Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory and rules-based legislation—and not on clarifying values and fostering integrity to those values and to enduring principles.
As a result, companies have huge, complex policy manuals. In addition, people can be duplicitous or even brutal in how they treat others, but unless they’re caught fudging on an expense account or violating some other measurable rule, as long as they’re getting results, most companies typically won’t do anything about it.
Rules cannot take the place of character.
—ALAN GREENSPAN, FORMER CHAIRMAN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE
As we’ll talk about later in the Third Wave—Organizational Trust—ultimately the problems we’re facing in organizations today cannot be solved with this kind of “follow the rules,” outside-in compliance approach. As Chris Bauer, a psychologist and corporate ethics trainer, has observed:
What we’re really talking about here isn’t a law enforcement or regulatory issue. It’s a psy
chological issue—an absence of core values, confusion about what is the right thing to do. I see a lot of companies saying that they’re going to tighten their rules. I don’t see a lot of them saying that they’re going to work to be extremely clear about what their values are, and give people training on how those values translate into actual behavior.
Only as corporations focus on trust and integrity—on congruence rather than compliance—will they really be able to promote true organizational credibility and trust. As Albert Camus said, “Integrity has no need of rules.”
DEFINING INTEGRITY
To most people, integrity means honesty. Though some don’t consciously realize it, honesty includes not only telling the truth, but also leaving the right impression. It’s possible to tell the truth, but leave the wrong impression. And that’s not being honest.
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
—GEORGE WASHINGTON
Most managers would describe themselves as honest, and yet research shows that most employees don’t believe management is honest or communicates honestly. The English writer Maria Louise Ramé said, “I have known a thousand scamps; but I never met one who considered himself so.” Her point is humorously dramatized by Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, when he says: “I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest . . . honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly . . . stupid.”