T is for Trust

At The Training Rock, we talk a lot about TRUST.

And no, the capital letters are not for dramatic effect.

For us, TRUST is an Acronym:

And the first T stands for:

T – Talk to the right person 

The simple rule here is:

Talk to the person you’re talking about.

Go on, be honest, how many times have you been at the coffee machine talking about what Susie said to Deirdre and how wrong she was about… bla bla…..

In the meantime, Susie is talking to Gary about what you said and when Gary explains what Susie thought to Deirdre then the brown stuff hits the fan.

Am I right?

Worse still, when you’re in conflict with Barry, rather than address it directly with him, you test the water by running it past a few people to make sure you haven’t over reacted.

In the meantime, Barry is doing the same and before you know it you’ve got eleventy billion people involved in your unresolved conflict and the whole thing has become an unnecessary drama.

The first T of TRUST: Talk to the right person.

If you and your team commit to only talking TO the person you are talking ABOUT, you will notice an immediate drop in drama and toxicity and an increase in trust.

You’re welcome.

You see, TRUST is at the heart of everything we do at The Training Rock, it’s our key driver.

It’s also the foundation of our leadership programs and how we deliver them.

Many leaders we work with (senior leaders and company owners included) need help remembering their own company values, never mind role modelling and reinforcing the behaviours which reflect them.

We often find that company values are little more than words on a website.

And so before we even get in a room to deliver our training, our first job is to work with the team/company to help define the right values to reflect the desired company culture and, importantly, the behaviours which anchor those values.

Clients repeatedly tell us how much this part of our program helps shift their work culture and improve morale and trust – all before the training even begins!

We were suffering from misalignment within our leadership team that was being compounded over time at the expense of the business. The Training Rock’s approach works because it holds everyone accountable for their own behaviours and development.

We’ve already seen a reduction in unproductive conflict.

Our working environment is healthier.. –  Trevor Mapondera, CEO

So, this week’s challenge is to read your company’s values and decide whether you’re working by them, or if you need help realigning them to reflect the culture you want to create.