(Self)confidence as a base for everything.
When you want to realise something it is important that there is trust and confidence at the start. Trust in yourself and your environment, confidence that you will achieve the results. How can you build self confidence when you don’t get this from someone else (yet)? Let’s start with exploring how trust works and why it is so important.
Why is trust so important?
Every human being has a natural desire for safety. From this basic need we constantly judge if we can trust the other, whether the other one is honest and wants the best for you. Only when there is trust, there will be movement.
Kotter states in his book about leadership in change: “For teamwork there is one component necessary: trust. When there is trust, it will be possible to achieve teamwork.
When there is no trust, it won’t work… Only when trust increases, it becomes easier to achieve a mutual goal”.
Also in the pyramid of Lencioni, trust is the base for a well-functioning team. Only when you trust each other it feels safe to speak out and you can have an effective discussion. This is necessary to create involvement, so everyone can feel responsible and acts accordingly to achieve the common results.
Which factors are influencing trust in each other?
I’d like to show you two visions that personally appeal to me.
According Covey nothing achieves results as fast as trust and you can influence this yourself. By giving attention to the four cores of credibility:
| Character defines | 1. Integrity | How congruent are you? |
| 2. Intention | What is your agenda? | |
| Competence defines | 3. Capacity | Are you competent? |
| 4. Result | What is your track record? |
An example: … I trust my husband completely, with whom I’m married for 30 years.
However, when I had to undergo an operation, I had more trust in a qualified surgeon, although I didn’t know him at all!
Dilemma
Trust is often an issue in teams. There must be confidence first before we are willing to give confidence. But if everyone in the team thinks this way, then it never gets anything. Dilemma: giving or taking first….? If you want to withdraw at a bank, you would have to make a deposit first to isn’t it!
How can we still influence the emergence of trust and confidence in a team?
Ten years ago a read a Harvard article by Hurley, who conducted a study of the ten elements that influence trust and confidence. Three of them are personal and are hard to affect, like for example your personal degree of risk-tolerance. The other seven can be influenced:
- Safety : safety and clarity are inviting to trust
- Similarities : you tend to trust someone quicker who looks like you
- Alignment of interests : by aligning interests you know what to expect
- To take good care : by taking risks for someone else you gain trust
- Ability : this is a precondition! Think again about the surgeon
- Predictability : it feels safer if you can predict someone’s reaction in advance
- Communication : be clear: show openness, vulnerability and confidence
We are inclined to trust our kind or like-minded people more easily. This has to do with, amongst others, the aforementioned predictability. However… if we look at it from ‘what is most safe and how do I get the fastest results’, then especially another angle at your perception can be very valuable. That’s what Claudia will show us in the next article ‘the power of difference”.
Until next time
Then more about “the power of difference”
Team Being on Mission
