Thought Leaders: Robert Galford on Individual Trust

By:
Date: May 4 2005

Robert Galford and Anne Drapeau are co-authors of The Trusted Leader.
Last week we spoke to Ms. Drapeau about organization trust. This week David Creelman speaks to Mr. Galford about individual trust.

DC- Most HR professionals know that trust is important. We hope we are trusted. What more should we do besides keeping our fingers crossed?

RG- It is tough to deal with a topic like trust, which can be so squishy and amorphous, without some concrete definitions. To make it more concrete we have, as Annie described last week, an equation based on five As.

The first A is aspirations, our goals, what are we trying to do. The second A is abilities,: do we have the ability to actually achieve those aspirations? Do we have the resources and the right people in place? The third is actions. Even if you have great aspirations and great abilities, if you don´t do anything it really doesn´t matter. A lot of organizations talk a good game but don´t get anything done. Now even if you have great aspirations, great abilities, and you take the right actions, unless people actually hear and understand it doesn´t matter. So the fourth A is articulation. Finally, everything must be aligned.

Our formula is:

Trust = (Aspirations + Abilities + Actions) x (Articulation+ Alignment) / Resistance

DC- What do you mean by resistance?

RG- There are four kinds of resistance that undermine trust. One is simple skepticism. People have heard this kind of thing before and experience has taught them to take it with a grain of salt. The second is simply fear. You know the old joke, "We know the pioneer, he is the one with the arrows in his chest." There is a risk you take in trying to do new things. The third type of resistance comes from mismanagement. People get frustrated when they are being micro-managed or under-managed. The last type of resistance we call "the embedded we/they". This describes the mindset that no matter what happens, "We can''t trust you." It''s the idea that says, "You are from marketing and I am from technology and ours interests are not fundamentally aligned." These distinctions can be between functions, between geographies or between levels in the hierarchy.

This is our framework for thinking about trust. You try to maximize the numerator, the five As, and reduce the denominator, the four Rs.

DC- What are some of specific actions one can take to build trust?

RG- Recognize you may not be equally good at addressing all six As. You may need some help. People who are trusted leaders recognize that they are not fabulous at everything. They may need people who are their resistance navigators or people who are their alignment experts. They are going to need their own set of trusted advisors. Trusted leaders have to be trusting leaders.

DC- Traditionally we view each manager as an island. I suppose it makes sense that a trusted leader first has to create a network of trusted helpers.

RG- Absolutely. You just can´t do this alone. Very often people try to do things alone and end up lonely and leading unsuccessful lives. I think HR people intuitively understand that. Sadly, the more senior people become, the lonelier they become.

DC- What else can you offer people to navigate this framework for developing trust?

RG- You should consciously think about what you can do to reduce resistance. The first is to admit past mistakes. Apologize for misdeeds you commit, even apologize for events that were not your fault.

The second thing is you can´t just say, "Come on everybody let´s develop a trusting relationship." You have to invite people into the process. One tactic a manager I know uses is to have discussions over meals. He really believes that meals are a great way to develop a close level of communication.

DC- This kind of technique wouldn''t be mentioned in an MBA program but any historian would say that sharing food together has always been very important to people.

RG- That''s exactly right. Another technique for improving trust is delegating responsibility. It''s natural for leaders to believe they are responsible for solving many of the problems of the world but there are many times you need to delegate.

When I was running an HR department we had to add a thousand new professionals in ten months. We felt that I should personally handle all the commissioned searches for senior executives. It became clear that even though I really knew the search market it was slowing the organization down. Finally I had to relinquish it. No one said "You must relinquish it," but I eventually realized it was not as much an art form as I liked to think and other people could do it well too.

DC- Delegation seems like more an efficiency issue than a trust issue.

RG- It''s a trust issue because I didn´t trust anybody else to do it. I had to force myself to get over that hurdle.

One other point is that when it comes to trust you have to over deliver and do so over a period of time. Finally, it is not enough just to lead an honorable and trustworthy life. It is also important to talk about it, to say trust is important in this organization. There is an Italian proverb, "The ocean lies between what we say and what we do." The process of being a trusted leader requires narrowing that ocean.

DC- Those are some of the positive things you do. Are there some things that good people inadvertently do that blow up trust?

RG- One is inadequate communication. Sometimes good people just don´t communicate adequately when things are changing or things are complicated. Another problem is more insidious, when there are important situations not addressed. You''ve probably heard the metaphor of the elephants wandering undisturbed in the parlor. This describes a situation that people know about but don''t confront.

DC- With the elephants you know the right thing to do but you are not doing it. How does one take that last step of actually confronting the issue?

RG- You have to have courage.

DC- But how do you build courage?

RG- You have to find the words that work for you in tough situations. For example, if I had to get you off the phone in five minutes I might say, " David I am uncomfortable saying this but my schedule has changed and there is an important call I have to take in five minutes." Those are words that work for me. Everybody has to think about what words work for them when they are in an uncomfortable situation.

Don´t be afraid of writing those words down. When you know you are going to have to articulate something difficult try writing it down first. I can´t tell you how many times I have scribbled on post-it notes at a phone booth before I have to deliver a hard message.

DC- That is a wonderful tip. Do you have a closing message?

RG- Building trust is really an important part of your legacy as a leader. If you wait until you are on the cusp of retirement to think about your legacy, it is too late. You leave a legacy every time you leave a job. You build a legacy every time you have an interaction. You can´t start thinking about this too early.