Part 3: Building Trust on Your Team
Summary: Learn lessons about building trust from polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, who defied all odds and saved the lives of his crew in some of the harshest of conditions on a planet.?
"Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people.” -Stephen Covey
On October 27, 1915, a group of 28 British explorers had no reason to believe they would survive. They had just watched their ship, the Endurance, be crushed by sea ice as it slowly and painfully splintered before their eyes. They had been trapped for 10 months on a frozen expanse near the coast of Antarctica. Their polar expedition had gone awry. World War I was raging. They were cold, hungry, and scared. No one was coming to save them, and they knew it. Life or death was on the line.
Yet somehow, someway their leader, Ernest Shackleton, inspired the best in them when it mattered most. He trusted their skills and knowledge, and they trusted his leadership and decisions. Without working together, all would have been lost (see the horrors of Sir John Franklin).?
Almost a year later after overcoming unimaginable challenges, every crew member survived. Unbeknownst to them, they were living one of the greatest stories of leadership, survival, and trust…ever.?
Applying the TrustBuilder? Lens
Though it is highly doubtful we will find ourselves in similar circumstances to Shackleton, his lessons for building trust are useful to this day.?
Question: Aside from polar survival skills, have you built enough trust within your current team to survive a situation like this?
Shackleton’s journals provide a glimpse into how he built trust with his crew. If we overlay the TrustBuilder? framework for creating trust, we see that Shackleton effectively used all three avenues: Action, Insight, and Connection.??
Lesson 1: Focus on Action
“Ship and stores are gone, so now we go home.” -Shackleton
Just like that, in the midst of a life-or-death crisis, Shackleton pivoted the focus of his crew to their new reality. With steel audacity, Shackleton demonstrated Commitment to their new mission, and had the Courage to say it out loud (easier said than done).?
As a leader or team member, do your actions communicate to your teammates that you are there for them? These two behaviors, Commitment and Courage, are two of ten Action Builders effective at building trust with your team. They also may be the difference between the seamless implementation of a change or having teammates turn against one another as they rebel against what’s coming next. But, if your team sees your actions as mostly self-serving, trust will erode.?
Lesson 2: Welcome Their Insights
“The task now was to secure the safety of the party, and to that I must apply every bit of knowledge the experience of the Antarctic had given me.” -Shackleton
People can use their knowledge and experience as a tool to serve or as leverage to control others. We discover from crew journals and notes that Shackleton sought out, respected, and applied not only his own knowledge, but also that of his crew. He did not demand to be recognized as the smartest person in the room. Instead, Shackleton was Receptive and a Problem Solver, two of the ten Insight Builders. Through these qualities he got the best insights from each crew member.?
When team members sense they are trusted, knowledge flows more freely and ideas can be honed without emotional attachment. The result is a team that benefits from each other’s insights and innovation emerges. Trust allows this to happen, whereas leaders and members who only share insights when it’s to their individual advantage causes trust to quickly erode as divisions and silos emerge.
Lesson 3: Connect with Your People
“Never let a crisis distract you from the well-being of your crew.” -Shackleton
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Here’s another hard to believe story: The ship’s carpenter, Harry McNeish, brought along his cat, Mrs. Chippy, who inadvertently fell overboard in the first months of the trip. Shackleton knew the cat was important to McNeish, so he allowed the ship to be turned around to save the cat. Months later, McNeish went on to be a crucial contributor to the survival of the entire crew despite various controversies that surrounded the carpenter. Even with McNeish, Shackleton was Caring and Protective of his crew members’ interests, two of the ten Connection Builders. In the end, it may have saved their lives.
TrustBuilder? Individual profiles outline what Builders and Breakers are most important for each member of your team. For well intended leaders and team members, this knowledge can rapidly accelerate your ability to build trust as you can accurately elevate what matters to each person.?
Trust is best built before you need it.?
Learn from Shackleton: Trust fuels success. Don’t wait because when the crisis arrives (and it will), it may be too late to build the trust you need.?
TrustBuilder? is here to help.
Step 1: Provide your team a link to take the TrustBuilder? individual assessment (available October 21) and accelerate trust building on your team through Action, Insight and Connection. (Note: volume discounts are available.)
Step 2: Contact us to explore how a certified TrustBuilder? consultant can help strengthen your team’s culture by facilitating customized team and leadership sessions.
Step 3: Watch trust grow on your team, and enjoy better results, deeper knowledge sharing, and more authentic relationships that motivate people to give their best.?
In next week’s article, I’ll tackle the sticky topic of broken trust and keys for rebuilding it. If you missed part 1 or 2 of the Introducing TrustBuilder? series, click the links below.
Scott Linklater is CEO of TrustBuilder? and a PhD in Leadership from Gonzaga University. Want to invite Scott to your company event or conference? Book a meeting!
If you missed part 1 or 2 of the Introducing TrustBuilder? series, click the links below.
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