2015 Leadership Tip

If feedback shows lack of trust is an issue, look to your accountability measures. You will discover excuses and blaming will diminish desired results. Where does human performance lack commitment, competence, and follow-through? Fill those gaps with affirmative visions and steps for success.

Miscommunication by Omission

Recently, a young man I know was given aprescription for pain after injuring his knee. Being wary of medications, he minimized the dosage. The bottle label said "take for pain." Later, his sister, a registered nurse told him his prescfription was for pain as well as infamation. By reducing the dosage and enduring the pain, he prolonged his discomfort because the inflammation remained. It would certainly have been helpful to him if the doctor or the pharmacist had informed him of the anti-inflammatory propereties of the drug. That reminds me of a time when a friend was to undergo surgery. He had been told to avoid food for 12 hours before the surgery. He did so. He arrived for pre-surgery prepping and was scolded. The nurse saw him chewing gum, which stimulates the juices in the stomach and that can cause vomiting while under anestesia. A surprise to realize that gum is considered a food! When we know and assume so much more than we are telling, no wonder our receivers are clueless and feel betrayed by the information omissions. Errors of omission cause miscommunication--and mistrust.

Forgiveness

"Forgive and forget."
"Let go and move on."
"Get over it."
Short, simple directives--all of which miss the point.

When a person faces betrayal, disappointment, or disillusionment in a close relationship, the reality is neither short nor simple. The process of becoming a functioning, trusting, loving person again is long and complicated. The myriad attempts to conquer the labrinth of pain can exhaust the most determined individual. Others who suggest platitudes and insist on graditude lists simply do not understand the secret to forgiveness. Yes, anger keeps us connected and grief keeps us hurting. Yes, forgiving another person for what that person did or may have done can release us from the paralysis of the wound. Yet, let's not move there too quickly! That is the second layer of forgiveness, not the first. The inflicted person must forgive the inflicted person! One must forgive one's self for being trusting, gullible, or idealistic enough to have been fooled by the other person's intent or duped by one's own idea of perfection or righteousness. Once a person comes to terms with the doomed relationship, the wounded person can begin healing. To heal, the person must breathe and move through the days and years to reclaim one's own life and to resurrect one's own self. Scabs and scars are part of that process. It may take as long to heal as the relationship took to form. That is reality. Our faith in truth and trust will endure and assure the success of the process.

Accountability

Recently, several organizations have had difficulty with their management and employees. As I observed a church staff, a charter school administration, and new corporate middle managers, I discover that accountability is a huge issue for all of them. Some employees had authority to coincide with their responsibility. They had an easier time acheiving accountability than those who had responsibility and little to no authority in crazy-making, no-win situations. My observations led me to understand that accountability issues disguise trust and truth issues, and without trust and truth, the workplace beomes non-nurturing at the best and hostile at the worst. Teamwork, productivity, performance, and morale become casualties of a workplace where accountability is overlooked or undermined. Gossip, lying, and blame fuel distrust and negativity. In the church scenario, lies and unfounded accusations caused the pastor's dismissal by misled lay leaders. In the charter school scenario, the director was made a scapegoat for the executive director's poor judgment and the board of directors' ineptitude. In the corporate scenario, the middle managers continue to flounder in unclear expectations and inadequate support.

If negativity, distrust, and poor achievement show up in your organization, look to your systems for accountability or the lack of it. Personal responsibility, positional authority, and professional accountability measure the health of an organization. How healthy is yours?

Trust Drives the Bottom Line

The health of an organization's bottom line correlates to the amount of trust displayed in its interconnected relationships. A colleague says "Trust begins and ends with the truth." Being truthful, caring, and skillful play significant roles in creating a trustworthy interaction. William Easum, an organization development consultant, says that "quantum" businesses contain trust as a major characteristic of their conduct at all levels. Trust begins with the leader of the organization and permeates into all levels of employee ranks, teams and divisions, and outward to vendors, suppliers, external customers, and the general public. Within such an environment, people can learn from mistakes and take appropriate risks to create innovation in processes, products, and services.

Years ago the Tylenol corporation gained the trust of the public when it apologized in the media for deaths associated with its products. Tylenol removed all its products from shelves and went on to develop tamper-proof containers. Those gestures demonstrated a commitment to the health and safety of their customers. To this day, the Tylenol company remains financially viable with trusted products and a large market share.

Sprint has had a harder time gaining the trust of the public. As a front leader in telecommunications, Sprint could have nurtured a loyal clientele with excellent customer service. It chose instead to go after contracts. As contracts expired, customers left Sprint for more responsive cell phone carriers. Sprint's bottom line has fluxuated like a flag in a hurricane, and its workforce never knows when the next storm will hit and they'll be dismissed again. Customer service can solidify trust or it can cancel it.

Best-Buy has learned a similar trust lesson. Its managers confessed to a consultant a few years back that they diffeentiated themselves by the best price for electronic products and accessories; they did not care about the sale after the product left the store, unless the customer purchased an extended waranty. Now Best-Buy has the Geek Squad to serve its customers--a big shift in thinking.

Internal customer service is often seen as teambuilding. Teams with little or no trust are really groups of individuals working under the same roof or though a virtual system. Without trust, employees do work for benefits and paychecks only. They are susceptible to better benefits and bigger paychecks elsewhere. Talent and skill retention become difficult to maintain and will impact performanace and productivity--both of which will affect the bottom line within time.

Micro-management and broken triangles are two relationship saboteurs that destroy trust. A competent employee who has to have each step of a task challenged or approved will begin looking for a less-hassled or non-hostile environment in which to work. An employee who constantly has to watch his or her back so that others are not talking behind his or her back will begin to feel alienated and disliked, as employees are encouraged, and perhaps rewarded, for not communicating directly with one another. Distrust will spread like black mold in that kind of environment. The resulting turnover will show itself in the bottom line.

Trust or distrust can be corporate currency. What is encouraged and rewarded will blossom or fester, respectively. Finding and telling the truth, being responsible, and being accountable build trustworthiness. Choose trust in cultivating your business relationships; it pays off in the long run.

Saying "I'm Sorry"

Corporate attorneys get nervous when managers or other agents offer apologies to internal or external customers. For good reason: an apology suggests guilt and a confession can cost a company a lot of dollars in a lawsuit settlement. Nonetheless, leaders make apologies!

Consider the Tylenol company that apologized to the nation when a crazy person altered products with death-producing results. The company was not responsible for the deaths, yet took full responsibility for the opportunity their products created. Tylenol recalled all of their products from America's shelves--a multimillion-dollar decision. Tylenol officials followed all the steps for an effective apology. Ultimately, hamper-proof caps and labels came out of the misfortunate situation, and American consumers had increasing respect for one company's board of directors. Their apology was "the right thing to do."

Also, consider Bill Clinton's apology to the nation for lying during his presidency.
The country was torn whether the broadcasted comments were really an an apolgy or just regret for getting caught in a lie. Clinton did not follow all of the steps for an effective apology. His apology was manipulative.

Steps for Making an Effective Apology:
• Thank the readers/listeners for their concern and willingness to bring the situation to your attention.
• Describe the situation as you understand it.
• State your regret and/or responsibility: "I am/We are sorry." "I was wrong."
• Optional: Explain why the situation occurred and what you will do to ensure it never happens again.
• State a suggestion for remedy or offer a choice for approval to correct the situation: refund, exchange, free upgrade, or something else of value to replace the loss.
• Offer a gesture of goodwill in addition to the remedy when possible: a coupon, gift certificate, or free service.
• Thank your reader/listener for the opportunity to mend the relationship and maintain trust.

According to research, if customer service representatives follow this procedure, 95%of disgruntled customers will remain loyal—even more committed to the organization than they were before the dissatisfaction!

Apology is strategic plan for damage control. Apology is also a sign of character. When a leader apologizes and explains a situation from his/her perspective, people listen and learn. The best leader I ever saw was my dad--a former US Navy pilot, American Airlines manager, and entrepreneur. When I had used poor judgment and dismissed my mom and dad's rules of conduct, I expected a spanking. (I was 12 when I was last diciplined with a spanking for jumping on the bed. Breaking a bed in a home with seven children or risking an emergency-room run was unacceptable.) Yet, after each spanking, within 15 minutes, Daddy would come to my room and apologize for being upset over my infraction, calmly teach me what I had done wrong, clarify his expectation for the future, hug me and say, "I love you." Not wanting to disappoint my dad, I rarely did anything that I thought would result in his displeasure. Still, he apologied to me and that always elicited tears and an apology from me!

How refreshing it would be for leaders in organizations to admit when and why they were wrong, disguided, misinformed, underinformed, or thoughtless in any way. No doubt, improving trust, relationships, loyalty, and retention would result!