“Vulnerability is absolutely transformative and creates more trust, not less.” - Jen Hatmaker
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Trust
We are in a transition of truthfulness. Technology has changed the way we think about what’s real and what’s been modified – creating blurry lines between perceptions and reality.
For example, credit card “safety” no longer includes a traditional pillar of safety – privacy. Credit card safety is now achieved through predictive analytics and constant monitoring of purchases; quite the opposite of privacy.
Technology has modified how we perceive safety with car services – for many of us, a navigation and tracking system like the ones found in popular ride-sharing services makes us feel safer than a taxi driver who has passed a background safety check. It is hard to determine which is the more authentic version of safety.
Another example of how technology has modified the truth is photo filters. With the touch of a button, a photo can easily be manipulated and shared with millions of people. While a flower crown or a puppy face is a fun addition for social media pictures, what happens when filtered photos are presented as real and passed around social media channels, gaining legitimacy with every click, like and share? Combined with our ever-decreasing attention spans and memories that are increasingly dependent on the content we share via social media, and photo filters become a variation on reality, an inch further from an authenticity.
As we move away from privacy and authenticity and become easily modifiable, we lose the honesty and benefits of being honest – trust, reliability, loyalty. Without honesty, companies lose their personal connection to buyers, their internal teams are not efficient, and their business partnerships don’t last. Loyalty becomes obsolete. As business leaders, it is our responsibility to encourage truth so that honesty is a core value to our internal team and our customers.
How can we encourage honesty within our organization? By removing the pitfalls that distort reality and creating opportunities for genuineness.
Create a safe place
I don’t mean an office that meets required occupational safety standards, I mean an environment that is a safe place for people to learn and grow in their roles. Encourage colleagues to share their mistakes, how they overcame the mistake and the lessons they learned. Help teammates teach each other by encouraging them to provide constructive feedback in a productive way. Focus on problem solving, and not blaming individuals, to help the team develop integrity. As the leader, it is also important for you to disclose your own mistakes and lessons learned to help the team recognize that mistakes as learning opportunities and not punishments.
Empower employees
People feel more empowered when they are trusted. Give your team assignments and deadlines, time to work and the ability to ask questions, then give them space to do their job. Eliminating micromanagement practices help employees feel respected and motivated to complete their work while building pride and integrity.
Do not make promises that can be broken
Your words have tremendous value, so don’t sacrifice them. As a business leader, you have the knowledge and experience to anticipate potential problems. Review business plans with a watchful eye on timing and pricing, guarantees and other promises customers will count on. Set realistic expectations with your internal team about promotions, raises and bonuses. Do not give lip service to the executive team. Breaking promises, resetting expectations and over committing leads to disappointment, which deteriorates trust and your words lose their value and your reputation as reliable.
Don’t sacrifice values
Honesty is perhaps best tested in crisis. Leading with honesty and truthfulness to do the right thing, even if it’s extra work or the outcome is intimating. If the crisis is handled with honesty, the virtue of honesty will be stronger than ever when its resolved. If you try to cover up the crisis, a downward spiral of dishonesty and lies will begin.
Be transparent
This doesn’t mean disclose classified or time-sensitive information, but be upfront in a timely, open manner. If the product is delayed, be truthful about when it will be delivered. If a service is cancelled, offer a reliable alternative. If expectations for a product or service can’t be met, don’t try to conceal the situation. Challenges will be overcome, but an untrustworthy reputation is nearly impossible to overcome. Being transparent creates a culture of honesty where rumors cannot thrive and truthfulness raises to the top.
Be consistent
One of the most obvious indicators of untruthfulness is inconsistency. As Mark Twain said “if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” While important aspects can be tailored to each audience/group, putting truthfulness at the forefront of every conversation will leave no room for doubt. Consistency is a key aspect of building and maintaining trust.
Be authentic
When you think about mentors and leaders that have resonated with you the most, you will likely notice a common theme – the most aspirational people we encounter have shown us their true selves. Be that relatable person for your team; transparent and filter-free without pretense or ulterior motives.
In our pursuit of honesty, we can help create more defined lines between perceptions and reality. We develop into a more trust-worthy company, which helps build customer loyalty and in turn, helps our products and services succeed.
This article was originally posted on Leaders In Heels: Career Lessons.
In my career, I have been on all sides of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), having led integration efforts for businesses and more recently with my business, Planar, having been acquired by Leyard.
I liken the success of M&As to the work of two experienced dancers coming together for the first time.
Each partner brings his or her own strengths and style of dance, and each partnership creates something new and different.
In the same way, M&As require the participants to learn a new dance, one that takes effort and communication to get it right.
Here are five lessons that the world of dance holds for successful M&As:
1. The choreography sets the pace
It’s important to know what dance is expected. The foxtrot, the tango, and hip-hop are all different and require different moves and skills, so it’s critical to understand what to prepare before the music begins.
In the same way, a successful acquisition requires integration planning to ensure that everyone is prepared for what lies ahead.
Knowing the dance is one thing. Knowing how to adjust to a new partner is another. Without a plan of attack and clear communication, confusion and ambiguity can strip the combined organization of its productivity.
2. Clear roles and responsibilities matter
As with any dance, it’s important to determine who is leading and who is following. In M&A transactions, this is often clear, as one company acquires another or new organizational charts are established.
When Leyard acquired Planar, steps were taken to identify the roles and responsibilities of individuals, taking adequate time to determine who would be leading.
Nothing is perfect, of course, but clear roles and responsibilities, especially in the leadership ranks, help keep people focused on the dance, not on the backstage drama.
3. Successful integrations require listening and forgiveness
Despite the best efforts at communication, even the most experienced dancers can step on each other’s toes. Looking back over the integrations I have been involved with, I can think of dozens of missteps; times when I rushed something that required more time and coordination. Times when customers or employees were unnecessarily surprised by change.
While missteps like these are normal, it’s important to learn from them and turn them into opportunities that build trust. By being humble and open, the dance itself can teach all parties what it means to be a world-class partner.
4. Trust is at the core
Dancers often hurl their bodies into the air expecting to be caught, but before they do, they need to trust the strength and technical skills of their partner.
The same is true of M&A integrations, and what can build trust and teamwork faster than anything is obtaining a common view of the problem.
Business leaders talk about facing the truth, measuring performance, and being data-driven. All of these help people with different perspectives to see the same set of facts and share the same sense of urgency, ultimately creating a foundation for cross-functional teamwork.
5. Teamwork takes time
Experienced dancers may make it look easy, but even they will dance more smoothly and confidently the more practice they have with a particular partner.
So what happens when you go right from rehearsal to the stage, as is the case with most M&A integrations? This is where experience and attitude play a huge role.
Leyard acquired Planar, in part, due to the strong and established management team, and the team’s previous experience acquiring and integrating companies has already proven useful in navigating the current transition. Today, we are six months into the integration, and although it is still early, we are making real progress towards the success of the combined company.
This article was first published on the American Business Journal's BizJournals.com website.