Coaching
The Habits Of Trust
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
The word trust is one that is used in organizations especially when reflecting on organizational culture and teamwork. A recent Harvard Business Review article written by Dr. John Blakey highlighted the importance of trust as a part of leadership. A trusted leader results in a better work environment and by extension drives better results for both individual and the whole organizational performance.
Dr. Blakey poses an interesting question. If trust is so important then is it measured? How can one measure leadership trust? He proposes a Leadership Trust Index which is a diagnostic tool that assesses leadership behaviors to a model he designed called the Nine Habits of Trust.
The Nine Habits of Trust Model has three main pillars which can easily be recalled by the acronym ABI which stands for
Ability, Benevolence and Integrity. Ability refers to the leader driving results through others. Benevolence refers not to religious theory but to being the bigger person even where a leader may have authority over others. Integrity refers to being honest both in actions to others and honest to self.
Each of the three pillars has three habits that drive the pillar.
The first pillar ability, focuses on the three habits of coach, deliver and be consistent. Having spent the last ten years coaching executives from all over Africa, I can confirm, the single most powerful leadership skill is coaching. Coaching is about seeing potential in others, asking the right questions and helping people see the options so that they can make the right choices for themselves. It is quite different
Being honest is the last habit out of the nine habits of trust. Do you speak the truth? Do you lie to suit your agenda? Do you lie by omission or by commission and play your team members and your colleagues against each other? Eventually, no one will trust you and you will struggle to have a coherent and collaborative team.
from telling individuals and teams what to do because it involves the employees and makes them feel a part of the process. It empowers people to participate actively and to explore finding answers that were just hidden or covered. As a leader today, learning the skill of coaching and spending time coaching, can help build trust between yourself and your teams.
The second habit is deliver. I am sure you have all come across that one team member who never seems to deliver. It could be in an organization team or maybe a group dynamic in school or in a club, in church or even within a family. When you remember such a person, how does it make you feel? Do you trust them to support you and come through for you? A leader who says they will help you in your career progression needs to put his money where his mouth is. A leader who needs to drive numbers, can he deliver through his teams? Deliver is all about the rubber meeting the road. Less talk, more action.
The third habit is being consistent. There is nothing as disarming as a leader who is not consistent. Some people may think it is important to not be consistent. This way, no one can figure you out and you are not predictable. However consistency is what builds trust. Teams want the safety of predictability. Imagine making a costly mistake and no one owns up simply because they aren’ t sure how the leader will react. Compare this to a situation where they have confidence their leader will be fair and support them despite a challenging situation. A lack of consistency results in
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