E-couragement: Trust Walk...

“If you don't have trust inside your company, then you can't transfer it to your customers.” Roger Staubach The group of dads listened intently. Our counselor, Malcolm, gathered us around him to provide instructions, our roles, and the rules. Our daughters were off on their own, anxiously having their bandanas secured around their eyes. This exercise is called the Trust Walk we were told. Malcolm then gave us the three phrases we would whisper into our daughters’ ears before beginning our walk up the rugged trail full of rocks, tree roots, and sharp drop offs. Thinking about those three phrases still gets me emotional today.

Our daughters appeared unsure as they waited silently in their blinded state. I quietly walked up to 15-year-old Carley, stood behind her, placed my hands on her shoulders, and whispered, “Listen to my voice. You can trust me. I will never leave you.” These words shook with conviction and emotion as they emerged from my mouth. So began our trust walk. Thirty-minutes later, we successfully completed the challenging and sometimes dangerous trail. The exercise was capped off with the daughters removing their bandanas and an insightful debrief of our experience.

As powerful as those three phases are, trust is not about crafting the right words—it’s about the actions behind your words. Those expressions would ring hollow if Carley didn’t have years of evidence to believe she should listen to my voice, she could trust me, and indeed I would never leave her. Combining experience and words provides the foundation of trust which allows a team or group to successfully navigate life’s sometimes treacherous path.

An engaging and thriving workplace is built upon a foundation of trust. In organizations today there’s no shortage of impressive words and statements—yet the actions or experience behind those words have failed to make them believable. How about your followers? Why should they listen to your voice? Why should they trust you? Why should they believe that you will stick by them? Engaging leaders demonstrate, beyond their words, that they are trustworthy. Out of the fertile soil of trust grows loyalty, innovation, productivity, and profitability. Cultivating trust makes perfect business sense. What action will you take today to help your followers trust you on their walk?

Leave your comments: What are you doing to build trust with those you work beside? Recall a former leader, what causes you to trust them?