Trust is the magic and often elusive ingredient that inspires teams to perform at their very best.
We all instinctively know when trust is present and when it’s not.
Trust creates openness, deepens relationships, and boosts productivity.
An absence of trust undermines team cohesion and collaboration.
Our everyday actions build trust or distrust.
As a leader, are you:
- ‘Walking your talk?
- Seeking diverse views?
- Listening with humility?
- ‘Delivering on your promises?
Leading teams from a position of trust
Skilled leaders learn how to build trust and also to restore it when it has been lost.
There’s no secret to being trustworthy but there is a model that is simple to understand and works well in practice.
It’s called the ABCD Model.
Unpacking the ABCD model of trust
Ken Blanchard, Cynthia Olmstead, and Martha Lawrence first set out the ABCD model in a great little book called ‘Trust Works!’
In the ABCD model:
- ‘A’ is for Able
- ‘B’ is for Believable
- ‘C‘ is for Connected
- ‘D‘ is for Dependable
Being ‘able’ means demonstrating competence
In teams ‘ability’ can be summed up as:
Developing skills, gaining experience, and using that knowledge and know-how for the collective benefit of our team.
Being believable comes by acting with integrity
Team members with high integrity:
- Show respect
- Are non-judgemental
- Are sincere
- Admit when they’re wrong
- Don’t talk behind backs
- Keep confidences
- Are honest
It’s a simple list of behaviors, but how often do we see trust break down in teams due to unfair criticism or a lack of sincerity?
Being connected is all about caring
In the business environment, we sometimes downplay caring or even overlook it completely.
Yet, when I ask people what they value most, I invariably hear about supportive colleagues, acts of kindness, and positive regard.
In the ABCD model, caring for others promotes connectedness.
Team members connect by:
- Showing interest in others
- Sharing insights about themselves
- Listening and learning
- Asking for input
- Showing empathy for others
- Working well with others
- Praising others
For teams to work well, relationships need to be nurtured.
Sharing and caring are indispensable.
Being dependable boils down to doing what we say we’ll do
In teams, nothing breaks trust like empty words and broken promises.
This is why doing what we say we’ll do lies at the heart of what it means to be a true ‘team player’.
Beyond this, the key attributes of dependability are:
- Being on time
- Being responsive
- Being organised
- Being accountable
And above all, being consistent.
One final thought on trust in teams
As a professional coach and mentor, I’d like to think that I’m pretty trustworthy.
But trust like beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I know I sometimes fall short.
As a reminder, to be trustworthy we need to be:
Able
Believable
Connected
Dependable
One final thought:
When trust breaks down in your team is it usually because of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, or ‘D’?
