The Speed of Trust
There it is again, that word “Trust”. Look at those you work with closely and ask yourself two questions:
1) Do your teammates trust you?
2) Do you trust them?
Think about it, don’t just go with your first gut reaction. It is important you evaluate an honest answer. Truly trusted relationships between coworkers on a team manifests itself in two ways:
1) Actions and words of each team member is said and done with the primary interest for the team to achieve their shared goal.
2) Healthy debate is valued because they know that each team member has the primary interest for the team to achieve their shared goal.
Belonging to such a team is rare because we often don’t choose our teammates and therefore each one comes with their own ambitions and goals and look to further their own agenda or career from the opportunity to be on a team rather than value being a successful team.
I have had, and currently have, the awesome privilege of being on a team that does not fit this description. Each team member is concerned about the success of the team and about each other. In the Military, or in First Responder jobs this is essential as lives matter. In business it is also essential, even if lives are not at stake. Synergy among team members can foster a speed of getting things done, problem solving, idea sharing, exploiting opportunities, can all be managed and addressed at a much faster pace because there is trust among the team members.
Stephen R. Covey wrote a book titled The Speed of Trust, I encourage you to read it, in it he relays the importance of building trust are from four areas of our character and abilities: Integrity, Intent, Capability, Results. The highest level of trust among team members is not easily achieved. The first step in building trusting relationships with your teammates is to be trustworthy. Show other members you can be trusted. Guard your integrity. Let your actions and words be totally aligned to the teams’ goals, your intent must be sincere. Contribute your talents willingly, and share, even give away, the credit for the results. When others see that you can be trusted, they too will extend their trust to you. Then the true speed of trust is realized.