Accused of Bragging and Being Annoying
Teambuilding Game: Hole Tarp

Speed of Trust -- Workshop by Stephen M.R. Covey

Stephenmrcovey_tomheck For the past couple of days I've been attending a "Speed of Trust" workshop at Snowbird ski resort in Utah. 

The workshop is based on Stephen M.R. Covey's soon to be released book entitled "The Speed of Trust".  Pictured to the left is Covey with Tom Heck, President and Founder of the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators.

Covey was interviewed by Tom Heck for the IATF.  Listen to the interview HERE

Barryrellaford_and_tomheck Covey's lead trainer for the Speed of Trust project is Barry Rellaford who is also a visiting faculty member at the IATF. Barry and Tom Heck (pictured to the left) are good friend who share a passion for building high performing teams.

My job was to participate in the workshop and then provide feedback on how to make it more powerful through experiential learning exercises.

A few of the key learnings from the workshop...

Trust (lack of it) acts like a "tax" on a team / company / system. 

Here's an equation that reflects the impact of Trust...

Normally, the equation would read like this:

Strategy x Execution = Result

Reality shows us the equation reads like this:

Strategy x Execution = Result - "Trust Tax" = Actual

Example:

Here's what people often believe what's going on:
-- Strategy -- Your team has a great strategy measuring 10 on a scale form 1 to 10
-- Execution = Your team has perfect execution.  So good it measures 10 on a scale from 1 to 10

10 (Strategy) x 10 (Execution) = 100

THE REALITY is much different if trust is low on the team (which it usually is)...

10 (Strategy) x 10 (Execution) = 100 - 40% "Trust Tax" = 60

Most teams focus their energies on building better Strategy and Execution in order to improve / increase the Result.  This, according to Covey, is a mistake.  The team should focus on increasing (improving / building) trust so as to minimize the "Trust Tax".  Back to the example...

10 (Strategy) x 10 (Execution) = 100 - 10% "Trust Tax" = 90

In the above example the Strategy and Execution remained the same AND YET the final result improved all because the "Trust Tax" was reduced.

How do you increase trust (and decrease the Trust Tax)?  This was the focus of most of the workshop.

We learned strategies to grow (improve, build, increase) trust in the following areas:

  • Self Trust
  • Relationship Trust
  • Organizatinal Trust
  • Market Trust
  • Societal Trust

Because trust starts within, the program outlined the 13 behaviors of high trust leaders.  Here are the first five:

  1. Talk Straight
  2. Demonstrate Respect
  3. Create Transparency
  4. Right Wrongs
  5. Show Loyalty

At the end of the workshop we developed a "Wave of Trust Action Plan".

I highly recommend this workshop if your organization is ready to move at the Speed of Trust.

Tom_at_snowbird And finally, I have to share a picture from the top of a mountain (11,000 ft) near the training center (click on photo to enlarge).

Comments

The trust tax is a great idea. I recently attended meeting of leaders that was expertly "facilitated" and participants were great at discussing strategy and action. But it became apparent that there was considerable underground suspicion and mistrust of one another by a number of participants. Dialogue lacked a quality of "genuineness" and honesty. More trust building prior to strategic discussion would have made this meeting more valuable.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.

Your Information

(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)