Competence \u2013 Trust Depends On It<\/h2>\n

Ask any consultant or practitioner about the importance of trust in the workplace and you\u2019ll get a very consistent answer \u2013 it means a lot<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Trust is crucial, not just in the workplace, but in any environment where people need to \u2018work\u2019 together. Proof of this consensus view plays out every day in the workplace, in politics, in families, and in any other situation where relationships matter.<\/p>\n

If you ask a second question \u2013 \u201cwhat does it take to be trusted?\u201d<\/em> -you will likely get a variety of answers\u2026 anything BUT consensus. The variety of answers is more driven by the complex and multi-faceted nature of trust, not because some are right and some are wrong.<\/p>\n

Over time, you will see my articles tackle many of the facets of trust. The cloud-space the articles will occupy will be well worth it. Trust is absolutely that<\/em> important. This article addresses one key facet \u2013 competence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A Simple Construct<\/h3>\n

In The Speed of Trust<\/em>, author Stephen M.R. Covey (son of the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey\u2026 kind of like the sequel) presents a construct for understanding trust that is based on character and competence.<\/p>\n

Simply put, if you aren\u2019t good at what you do, it will be very difficult for others to trust you. You have to be good at your craft. Trust is about predictable and positive outcomes. It takes competence to produce predictable and positive outcomes.<\/p>\n

Competence matters because we live in a highly networked and dependent world. Very few roles operate autonomously. Very few of us are masters of our own destiny. Our tasks are intertwined, and even if they are not, our behaviors affect the level of engagement of others. Our competence helps others. Our incompetence makes others do extra work, adding an additional informal quality control step.<\/p>\n

Leadership Challenge<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not easy to be a leader. Not only do you have to worry about your own trustworthiness, but you also have to worry about the overall trust element of the culture. Keeping in mind that we are only talking about the competence aspect of trust, here are some things you can do to help enhance trust.<\/p>\n

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• Know your crafts\u2026 that\u2019s right, crafts <\/em>with an \u2018s\u2019. Since you are a leader, you have two of them\u2026 the work of your organization and<\/em> the work of a leader. You must become a constant student of both.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
  \n
  • Set people up for success by putting them in roles they are ready<\/em> to handle. Be honest about their strengths and weaknesses. Ensure that they build knowledge and skills to increase their competence. Putting someone in a \u2018stretch\u2019 role and having them figure it out on their own is a hope-based strategy that will cause a deduction to the trust account.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n
    • Align your organization to ensure that all have consistent priorities and a common mission. Different agendas in a highly dependent environment can create the perception of incompetence even when it doesn\u2019t exist. Ensure that everyone in the organization<\/em> knows the priorities of the whole organization<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Trust Affects Results<\/h3>\n

      Covey (the sequel) writes that increasing trust results in an increase in speed and a decrease in cost<\/strong>. He also says that results are a function of strategy and execution, but that trust is a multiplier for both<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      Without trust, all effort spent on strategy and execution can be diminished – and even negated. Based on proof and intuition, this makes a lot of sense. That\u2019s why trust is so important. And that makes leadership challenging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Competence is a key factor in building trust. It’s a Simple Construct, with Leadership Challenges, and great Results. Here are 3 things you can do to help enhance trust, because without trust, all effort spent on strategy and execution can be diminished – and even negated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,9],"tags":[49,10,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions\/726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}