It’s been a year since Simon Sinek’s newest book The Infinite Game was published. However video snippets of him talking about Performance vs. Trust at conferences have been recirculating recently. In a nutshell, having a highly trustworthy yet mediocre performer is better to have on a team than a high performing jerk.
Even before Simon’s book was published I always rated Trust as one of my top qualities in joining a company and building a team. And a value I continue to demonstrate and work on myself.
So Trust should be high on your list of values both to display on the job and what to look for when getting ready to make a transition. How do you then
- Demonstrate trust from the start of the recruiting cycle to your end of term at an organization?
- How do you assess trust before joining a new company?
- What do you do if you find the new company you joined isn’t as trustworthy as you thought it would be?
Building and Demonstrating Trust From the Start
The easiest thing to do is reaching out to colleagues to get to know them both on and off the field (at work and who they are outside of work) then show them you are accountable. Take on a task and follow through. Run to problems and solve them. Ask how you can help a colleague or a customer and make it happen. Prop up people and compliment them versus throwing them under the bus in public – if you have feedback give it to them in private.
Assessing Organizational Trust from the Outside
How do you know you are walking into an organization that is trustworthy? Besides reviewing Glassdoor reviews, ask if Trust is a core value during the interview process. How do people demonstrate it at work via the company’s core values? If you can, reach out to people who currently or used to work there as well that were not part of your interview process about their point of view on the level of trust there is with colleagues.
Uncovering Untrustworthy Colleagues and What to Do
You found the jerk of the bunch, now what do you do, especially if you have to interact with him or her daily? As I like to say – take the high road! Don’t go out of your way to avoid the person but get to know them as you can and take what they say and how they act with a grain of salt.
Remember – don’t be the asshole. Take ownership of Trust as a key value to incorporate into your life. Be the one people always turn to for help because you are known to follow through, be there at the moment of crisis, be respectful and get shit done.
Need help with being on a trustworthy team or displaying trust with colleagues? Contact info@careeragilitysystem.com to set up your free 15 minute consultation.
