BUILT TO LEAD improves the performance of leaders and their teams through the integration of our proven methodology. The Eight Essentials of Leading Teams is our framework for building sustainable performance in a leader and his or her team. We believe that the heart of team performance is in building deeper and deeper levels of trust. Is it possible to illustrate that the trust we help build is a significant economic driver for a company wishing to increase engagement and performance?
Stephen M.R. Covey, in his insightful book The Speed of Trust, provides two simple formulas to take trust from an intangible and unquantifiable variable to an indispensable factor that is both tangible and quantifiable. The first formula is based on this critical insight: Trust always affects two outcomes—speed and cost. When trust goes down, speed will also go down and costs will go up.
↓ Trust = ↓ Speed ↑ Cost
When trust goes up, speed will also increase and costs will decrease.
↑ Trust = ↑ Speed ↓ Cost
The level of trust in any organization directly affects its performance and cost. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that every company wishing to maximize performance of their people utilize proven strategies to increase trust.
The second formula Covey outlines recognizes the effect of what can be a hidden variable. The traditional business formula says that strategy times execution equals results:
S Χ E = R
But there is a hidden variable to this formula: trust—either the low-trust “tax”, which discounts the output of the enterprise, or the high-trust dividend which multiples it:
(S Χ E) T = R
([Strategy times Execution] multiplied by Trust equals Results)
You could have good strategy and good execution (10 on a 1 to 10 scale), but still get derailed by low trust. Or high trust could serve as a performance multiplier, creating synergy where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a company can have an excellent strategy and a strong ability to execute, but the net result can be either torpedoed by a low-trust tax or multiplied by a high-trust dividend. Consultant Robert Shaw, in speaking on this dynamic, has said, “Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy, and superb organizational execution. Distrust is the enemy of both” (Trust in the Balance: Building Successful Organizations on Results, Integrity and Concern). Our experience is that while high trust won’t necessarily rescue a poor strategy, low trust will almost always derail a good one.
These formulas prove the pervasive importance of building and sustaining trust for leaders and their teams. By focusing on what is often neglected, BUILT TO LEAD provides you and your company with a proven methodology to maximize your team’s trust so that you all perform at your highest levels.
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