You set the tone for your life. If you can’t see trust in the world, start trusting others, if you can’t see collaboration, co-operation, and tolerance, then start collaborating, co-operating and tolerating more. The world is a mirror.
The topic of trust in teams is a big one right now because many teams don’t have it. We know you need it to be high performing (see 5 dysfunctions of team, google data, turn the ship around etc), to enjoy your work, be innovative, and to make agile work, but it is still sadly lacking and for the most part we don’t know how to fix it.
Bas Vodde once said to me, that the secret to being a good presenter or trainer was to understand that you control the energy in the room.
I once walked onto a stage and declared that I was exhausted and I visibly saw the energy of the room disappear. It was a great lesson.
In the excellent video of Simon Sinek entitled ‘why good leaders make you feel safe’, he says ‘leaders go first’. And so it is that leaders set the tone. He also says that leadership is not a rank, leadership can not be given or awarded. Leadership is what you are. It is independent of hierarchy.
So, as a leader, going first is now explicit in what you practice. You must trust first, show courage first, not be afraid to speak out first.
Next time you are facilitating a workshop on team building, go first, and share something of yourself. You will set the depth of trust and openness. So be brave.
This post was inspired by watching this video. I recommend you watch it.
Karim Sulayman – I trust you from Meredith Kaufman Younger on Vimeo.