GUEST
ARTICLE - Allen Liff
Building Trust Between Boards and Staff
Trust is the fundamental quality of successful,
productive and sustainable relationships. Without trust
between the board and staff, an association’s ability to
serve its members suffers. This leads to the logical
question, how can the executive approach, in a
systematic manner, the challenge of building trust to
achieve performance?
Here are some facts to consider:
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Ninety-one percent of employees rated
“being trusted to get the job done” as the most
important thing to them in their work setting (2001
Randstad North American Employee Review)
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A Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey found
only half of employees trusted senior management.
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Watson Wyatt also found that in terms
of performance, companies where employees trusted top
executives posted shareholder returns 42% higher than
companies where distrust was the rule.
While I know of no research that documents
relationship between trust and performance in
associations, I have no doubt there is a close
correlation. The following shows the differences between
two organizations, one with high degrees of fear and
distrust versus one where the culture is built on a
foundation of trust.
Culture of Distrust and Fear
|
Culture Built on Trust
|
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Minimal collaboration |
High levels of collaboration |
|
Turf Battles |
Open Sharing of Information |
|
Low Morale |
High Morale |
|
Negative Gossip |
Positive Gossip |
|
Ridicule |
Respect |
|
Low levels of innovation |
High Levels of Innovation |
|
Crisis |
Anticipation |
|
Sabotage/Behind the Back Gossip |
Disciplined Communications |
As
I look over the left-hand column there is an air of
familiarity about it. Sad to say, many of the behaviors
in left hand column are all too common in the realm of
board-staff relationships.
Recently I had the opportunity to work
with Bob Foxworthy, a consultant who has developed an
approach he calls Trust-Based Leadership™. His work
with companies such as Tropicana, CSX and
Hewlett-Packard has won awards such as the George Land
Leadership 2000, World-Class Innovation Award and Rail
Business Magazine’s Railroad-Shipper Win-Win Award for
customer-supplier collaboration.
My experience working with him on a
leadership training program for a police department in
Virginia opened my eyes to techniques and approaches that
can be used by associations. Here are three ideas I would
like to throw out for your consideration.
Idea #1: Develop and invoke a set of
ground rules to build trust
Ground rules are a way to clarify and
codify the answer to four questions:
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How do you want to be treated?
-
How do you think you should treat
others?
-
How do others think you want to be
treated?
-
How will we resolve conflicts?
Unfortunately, most associations have no
ground rules to guide the relationship between board and
staff. And those with ground rules seem to pay them lip
service. If people in an organization cannot answer the
four questions above, they will seriously constrained in
the ability to achieve levels of performance.
While there are no off-shelf-ground rules
(each association should develop its own set), the insert
contains a list of rules for your consideration:
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Volunteers - Staff
Relationship Ground Rules
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Our number
one purpose is to serve our members to the best of
our abilities. All of our actions, priorities and
words must be judged against that. Therefore we
conduct every board meeting as if the entire
membership was watching and we ask ourselves: Would
our members be proud of how we have conducted
ourselves?
-
We seek to
gather all the facts before entering into a
discussion or making a decision. We acknowledge that
the quality of our actions and decisions are only as
good as the quality of our knowledge about the
situation.
-
We believe
in accountability, not blame. We acknowledge that
mistakes and failures will occur and we will use
these as learning opportunities.
-
When a
mistakes or failures occur, we remind ourselves of
rule #1.
-
We work
hard to catch each other doing the right thing. We
will celebrate our successes.
-
Hidden
agendas and gossip are forbidden.
-
Each of us
agrees to listen with full attention when another
person speaks.
-
We are
careful to delineate the appropriate roles for board
and staff by asking:
-
What is it that ONLY the board can
do or should do?
-
What is it that ONLY the executive
(or staff) can do or should do?
-
What areas require collaboration to
achieve success?
By asking these questions we
demonstrate our respect for each other's experience
and expertise.
-
To improve
board – staff collaboration we agree to ask the
following kinds of questions:
-
The board will ask the staff: What
is the impact of our decision on you? Have we
listened to your perspective and wisdom about the
implications of this?
-
When the staff brings forth an item
for decision-making to the board: Have we explained
this clearly? Do you feel you have enough
information with which to make a good decision? Have
we listened to and addressed the big questions you
have raised?
-
Every
person takes responsibility for the successful
outcome of a meeting or interaction. These ground
rules can be invoked by anyone whenever necessary.
© 2004 Ronin Marketing |
Idea #2: Develop a Set of Measurements
There is a maxim that whatever you
measure, you get more of. So, if you want board and staff
to be clearer about their roles, do a better job of
communicating, be more active in sharing information and
work together for a common goal – then it makes sense to
have a way to measure those things. Here are some
indicators you might use to measure trust in your
association:
-
Clarity of roles: Are the roles
of board members and staff clearly defined?
-
Communication: Are the lines of
communication and process for communication between
board and staff clearly understood by all?
-
Open sharing of information: How
well do board and staff share information vital to
making sound decisions?
-
Shared Purpose: To what extent do
board and staff feel they are working towards to the
same set of goals?
It is worth emphasizing the importance of
measurements. You can and should measure the factors that
shape trust in your association. Doing so allows you
monitor what is happening, pinpoint “trust fractures” and
take corrective action.
Idea #3: Have an annual game plan
Trust is a perpetual process that must be
continually renewed among people and within organizations.
Many times I have heard an executive say something like
this: “When I was first hired five years ago the board
knew and trusted me. But now, due the turnover, I feel
they no longer trust me.”
With this mind, an executive director
should have a game plan each year designed to build and
maintain trust between the board and staff. Asking the
following questions will help you develop the game plan:
-
Are we invoking the ground rules for
board-staff relationships? Do new board members (and new
staff) have the opportunity to explore and discover why
the ground rules are important?
-
Are we measuring and monitoring key
indicators of trust? Am I using those measurements to
facilitate better communication and collaboration?
-
Am I paying attention to my personal
leadership and communication styles. Are there aspects I
need to change or new skills I need to learn to become
more proficient at creating an environment of trust?
Finally, I would like to share, courtesy
of Bob Foxworthy, seven characteristics of Trust-Based
Leaders:
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They work to
build trust with others in all they do.
-
They
demonstrate humility and authenticity when interacting
with others.
-
They tell the
truth to their peers and their followers, even when it
is personally painful to do so.
-
They are open,
honest and direct in their communications.
-
The demonstrate
respect to others.
-
They
consistently act in an ethical manner.
-
They are
courageous visionaries committed to becoming the best
that they can be and /or leading their organization to
greatness (measurably defined).
Allen Liff is the founder of
Ronin Marketing
located in Washington, DC. Phone: 202-232-1121.
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