trust Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

22
Jul 21
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Personal Experiences Shape Belief More Than Talk

Tags : belief change management personal experiences psychology of work trust

Have you ever tried to convince someone to see it your way but you just can’t quite pull it off? Personal experiences are more powerful than chit-chat which is precisely why you must create an experiential experience.

Many businesses want change. They want to increase sales, improve efficiencies and build a dynamic culture that will lead them to becoming a best in class.

Yet, their success meets opposition, struggle, and stays stuck.

The workforce often doesn’t believe in change. It may not be because they don’t want change, it may be because they have a hard time believing in change.

Change leaders find it perplexing.

These leaders formulate a plan. Package it all nice and pretty, and roll it out to the masses with a prescribed strategy and metrics to guide the change effort. Yet, the workforce struggles to believe.

No matter how pretty the message, how well laid out the plan, it just doesn’t seem to happen.

Personal experiences might be to blame.

Personal Experiences

Great speakers and story tellers capture audience attention by connecting them emotionally to what they are describing.

It often develops from childhood. A parent reads a book out loud to they young child while the young child forms an image in their mind of what is being read.

The bonus of course is a picture book. It helps form a more complete image.

All grown up in the workplace a similar thing happens. One big difference is that the working adult usually has their own life experiences that are shaping their story. Not necessarily the story that is being told, but the story that they, as an individual, hear and imagine.

This is often why change efforts struggle, or worse, fail.

It may not be because the plan is bad, it may be because not enough people believe.

Beyond having a great plan, change leaders need to build trust and they need to help everyone involved see the vision and then actualize it.

If you’ve been burned a couple of times, someone telling you it won’t happen again is hard to believe.

Develop the story, but be prepared to shape belief through experiences.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

25
Jun 21
-

Finding Consistency, Does It Build Trust?

Tags : consistency trust

Have you had any luck finding consistency? Is consistency what you expect?

When people know what to expect and when, they might suggest there is consistency.

Do you like the surprise party? What about the surprise problem? What about the feedback that takes you aback or an outburst that you never could imagine would happen, happens?

How do you know what is good quality, what is poor quality, and when you can count on the quality?

What do you do when consistency is missing?

A customer expresses disappointment. It must have been a fluke.

The boss is late for a team meeting. She must have had an urgent matter pop up.

A restaurant that has served fantastic food the previous six times you were there, now serves you something terrible. They must have a hard time getting good help.

The truth is, you probably don’t know for sure but you are determined to give a reason. Applying a reason gives you peace of mind. You’ve figured it out and now you can move on.

People like consistency and when its presence is lacking or missing, they’ll make something up.

Do they still trust?

Finding Consistency

It matters what you believe.

If you feel the suggested answer is logical and makes sense, you might believe.

If you’re intuition or gut feel tells you there is a reason, you might still trust.

An inconsistency when the reason proves to be true may increase trust.

Customers often trust vendors more after the vendor has been tested. Something broke and it was fixed to the customer’s satisfaction, a deeper bond of trust is the outcome.

Can you make up a reason?

When you spot the pattern, you’ll have more belief that the future might hold some of the same.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

21
Jun 21
-

Trusted Decisions Are Change Decisions

Tags : choice data decision Gut feel trust

Are you making or encouraging trusted decisions? Is every decision trusted?

Most decisions involve a change. A shift of direction, a pivot, or a whole new beginning.

People often suggest that you can’t change other people. Each individual decides when and if they will change.

Technically, there is probably some truth in that notion.

Begging, pleading, or pressuring someone to make a different choice or decision really only happens when they decide or agree that they will do it.

You might present evidence, tell a compelling story, or simply ask for a new direction. Sometimes this is the mind-changer and sometimes it is not enough.

When you don’t trust the choices, when you don’t have the vision for the future outcome, you may stay undecided.

Is trust a factor?

Trusted Decisions

At the restaurant, you’re often curious if the special is good, if the portion size is right, and if it is a popular item. You seek answers to those questions. When you collect the data, you may decide to trust the special as a viable option.

In the workplace, people are often seeking data for their decision. They may ask for feedback, ask for the report, or dig into a spreadsheet to discover what the data shows.

Wrong choices are costly. They may add costs to the operation, may lead to declining sales, or even worse, tarnish a brand or your reputation.

Trust is one of the most significant factors of any decision.

People will decide. They’ll make a shift, a change, or pivot when they trust. Trust their gut, trust the data, or trust the recommendation from someone else.

Until then, things won’t change.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

17
Jun 21
-

Customer Trust, Are You Building It?

Tags : customer engagement email blast hustle spray and pray trust

What does it take to build customer trust? Loyalty is a different story; it comes after trust.

Every day in my inbox I have email from people asking if I want some help with my website. In some instances, they are insulting, stating elements or factors that should be corrected to honor the SEO gods.

I’ve often wondered, why would these marketing hackers choose to insult a website in order to hopefully attract a new customer? What if their prospect is the website builder? What if the recipient has spent many pride-filled hours cleverly crafting the content and images?

The truth seems to be that the marketer doesn’t really care. They are merely spraying and praying. Spraying a bunch of form letter style email blasts and praying that they get a bite.

Is this anywhere close to a trusted relationship? No way!

Customer Trust

It is no wonder trust is lacking.

Building customer trust is more about gaining permission, be invited to interact, and solving a problem for an expressed need.

Consumers and business contacts are growing increasingly tired of the hustle, the bait and switch, and the violated privacy.

What is amazing is that many businesses have an opportunity to build trust but they blow it through the hustle.

Marketing budgets are spent on email or snail mail campaigns, they are spent on clever videos and fancy websites, and lastly, they are spent on push items in the hopes of creating pull. Then, when a potential customer reaches back to make contact there is no one there to build a trusting relationship.

Seems silly, doesn’t it?

What happens when the website doesn’t feel intuitive, when the auto attendant phone system doesn’t have your menu option, or when the on-hold queue lasts more than 15-minutes?

What often happens is, nothing.

Trust is about engagement and relationships, not a one and done.

Trust scales slower, but lasts longer. It seldom builds by chance.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

08
Jun 21
-

Skeptical Believer, Are You One Of Them?

Tags : belief doubt risk trust

Have you factored workplace trust into the success of your organization? Are you a skeptical believer, or just moving about without giving belief much thought?

In workplace circles many people are convinced in what they believe. The right, the wrong, the labels, and the situations. What they see, what they perceive, is truth.

Often driven by expectations belief can be powerful, it can become extreme, and it also can become problematic.

Who do you choose to believe and why?

Skeptical Believer

People often choose to believe those that they trust. When you ask someone why they trust another person what is his or her response?

Do they trust from past experience with the person? Are they stereotyping, making assumptions, or simply giving the benefit of the doubt?

Is this blind belief? Belief based on science?

Much of the belief is suggested to come from a feeling. A trust your gut kind of experience. This trust is often analyzed in your mind based on past experiences.

A bad boss might create some emotional scars. The result, never trust the boss.

A co-worker who sells you out may create an unwillingness to trust team members.

It is often about an organization that looks like this, looks like that, acts that way, has employees who drive the cars or wear the clothes that you connect with a previous good or bad experience.

Risky Trust

Giving the benefit of the doubt in trust scenarios feels risky.

Not giving the benefit of the doubt may be halting progress.

Don’t blindly disregard your instincts, but when you don’t trust ask yourself why.

The absence of evidence may be the perfect reason to give someone the benefit of the doubt.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

14
May 21
-

Building Workplace Trust Means Follow Through

Tags : commitment empowerment job task trust volunteer

Have you faced challenges with building workplace trust? What are the reasons? Do you simply not trust someone, or is there more to it than that?

Trust is an essential part of workplace productivity. You’ll spend less time communicating instructions, following up, and worrying about the status when you trust those assigned to the work.

Trust is about more than being truthful or telling lies. When you ask someone what breaks down trust in their work environment they’ll often suggest that it is a lack of commitment to seeing job tasks or duties all the way through to completion.

This means that employees must be dependable, it also means that they must be accountable for their actions and behaviors. Including completing assigned work or following through on promises made.

What is in a promise?

In the meeting when you commit to performing an action item, you just made a promise. It is on your to-do list.

At the next meeting, it may be anticipated that you’ll give a status update or show the completed work. The team has trusted you to deliver.

If you don’t deliver, you’ve just let others down.

They may not trust you the next time.

Building Workplace Trust

What’s stopping people from delivering? It could be discipline or commitment to sticking with the task. It could be focus or time management. Among many things, it may also be connected to empowerment.

Employees who are not empowered are less committed. They are less loyal, and often come up short on expectations. This is both a boss and direct report problem, it isn’t one sided.

Empowered employees feel more responsibility. More responsibility means that their image or reputation is on the line. Passing the buck isn’t an option.

When you need commitment and follow through, you’re going to need trust. You’re going to need empowerment.

Building more is intentional. It is unlikely to happen by chance or by accident.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

29
Mar 21
-

Reassuring Trust Is a Difference Maker For Your Team

Tags : competitive advantage employee teams relationships trust

Are you reassuring trust? Do you believe that your team has trust?

Trust of information has been problematic for a long time. It used to be that most people didn’t discuss who they voted for in an election. Not only was it considered private, but that information getting into the wrong hands wasn’t to be trusted. In some circles today, that has changed, but the trust problems still remain.

What about the drive-through at your local fast food joint? Do you grab the food bag and accelerate away or do you check the bag before you leave the window?

When you use your debit card in-person, do you walk away with no receipt or always request one?

Are your medical records an open book?

Is what you discuss with your closet friends and family open for discussion with anyone?

What you say and what you do always has an element of trust connected with it.

Trust is a factor for success in most workplaces.

Reassuring Trust

When teams lack trust there are communication problems. Beyond that there are productivity challenges, ethical challenges, and even brand or image challenges.

Many people shy away from answering the telephone. It’s an act that once meant you mattered. If you were important enough to have your own office telephone that meant that you were important enough to get calls.

Today, people answering a ringing desk phone is much less popular. The guidelines for customer service have slacked. Auto-attendants field most, if not all, of the inbound calls.

Some of this is about trust. Trust is less.

Trust is less for the customer and trust is less for the person debating about answering the ringing phone.

Too many scams, too many used car warranty calls, and too many people pushing for more, even when the answer is, “Not now.” Callers still push, they may even try to trick you. Have you ever heard from a person in another country with millions of dollars who just needs your help to get the money into a bank account? Scammers.

The benefits to the organization with high trust are large. In fact, trust maybe one of the biggest competitive advantages your organization can have.

Your ability to reassure trust and build strength in your team may be one of the most invisible roadblocks for success.

Is building more trust on your goal list?

It should be.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

09
Feb 21
-

Does Workplace Consistency Build Trust?

Tags : consistency flexibility nimble trust

Trust is an important element of any organization. Those with physical buildings and walls, and those without. Is workplace consistency an element you need more of or less?

Consistency is important for trust. When people know what to expect and when they are a lot more willing to trust.

Organizations with high levels of trust are often regarded as having a competitive advantage over those with less.

What does trust cost?

When it comes to business models and organizational culture, being flexible and nimble seems to be a requirement for navigating our fast-paced World.

Is that detracting from the spirit of trust?

Workplace Consistency

Many would quickly agree that everything in the world around us is changing. Rapidly changing.

Considering business strategy, when everything is changing, staying exactly the same may carry the most risk.

Consistency likely matters for how decisions are made. It matters for policy and to some extent procedures. It matters for levels of service and customer satisfaction. Does it matter for organizational direction and culture?

When the pace is fast and the times are uncertain consistency in core values helps create a deeper and more meaningful culture.

At the same time, a business that lacks flexibility is a business that is coasting. A coasting business can only move in one direction, downhill.

Being consistent with the art of being flexible may be an element of trust that is often overlooked.

Consistency and flexibility are not synonymous.

When everything around you is changing, they may both create more trust.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

09
Dec 20
-

Burned Trust and What It Might Be Costing You

Tags : advantage employees psychology of work trust workplace

Have you burned trust through your workplace actions? Trust may even be burned by inaction. What does this cost the organization?

Trust is a tricky part of any business endeavor. Everything from negotiations to getting work done. Unfortunately, many workplace leaders and frontline employees fail to recognize or have poor awareness about the implications of trust.

Imagine the busy manager. Struggling to prioritize and get things done that result in positive momentum for the team. What should she do?

Delegate, right?

Burned Trust

What if she doesn’t trust anyone on the team to handle the project?

What if she only trusts one key team member?

This form of limited trust that has long-term consequences.

In the short-run things get accomplished. In the long-run, the key team member begins to feel used and wants to back off of the high-output he normally delivers.

Why? Because he has arrived at the conclusion that he only needs to work as hard as the lowest-performing employee.

Why do more while others goof off?

5 Tips to Restore Team Trust

The manager, with an unwillingness to work towards building more trust, simply moves around the issue. Blame for this inaction is often placed on a very precious resource, time.

It seems easy to place the blame on time. In addition, many busy executives easily buy-in to this story. Shipping the order now is better than a delay. It’s a (long-term undesirable) short-run game.

Trust can be burned in many ways from many different angles.

Have you unknowingly burned trust?

More Than Just Team Members

Shortcomings on trust with customers and vendors are costly too.

Advertise a product or service but deliver something less and it burns trust.

Negotiate so hard with vendors that it threatens their view of your value as a customer and they’ll fail to be there, perhaps exactly when you need them the most.

Burning trust is often easy to do and hard to recognize.

The most successful organizations, the ones that stay on top, value trust as a part of their competitive advantage.

It doesn’t mean they get everything right, all of the time. It means that they work hard to keep the scale on the heavy side of trust.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

30
Nov 20
-

A Blank Check Is Not Customer Service or Trust

Tags : #Custserv blank check pay later trust

Would you sign a blank check and hand it to your vendor? You might, depending on the relationship, yet, how do you really feel about that?

Trust is an important aspect of any relationship. It is important personally and professionally.

Does it matter to you?

Does Trust Apply?

In the workplace, we trust that the work once distributed will get finished. We trust that the quality will be present and that the deliverables will be timely.

How would you react if the employee said, “I’ll do the work, but there is no certainty of the final cost for my services, write a blank check and I’ll fill it out when I’m finished?”

Does this change the dynamic? Is trust a two-way street? Should the employee trust that he or she will be paid?

If you’ve encountered this does it leave you with a warm-fuzzy feeling?

Something seems a bit off to me.

Backward Thinking?

I once had a potential client suggest that I pay them.

Yes, it’s true. A role reversal kind of move.

They would allow me to come to their facility to provide training services and they would invite some of their top connections. The offer was based on the idea that they would round-up a bunch of other potential clients (just for me) and it would be a great opportunity to secure future business.

“It will only cost you a small amount.” she expressed.

Yes, sadly, this conversation really happened.

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to go to a local electronics store and grab a big-screen television. At the checkout, I could state, “I’ll take this television and it will only cost you $1,000.00, for me to take it.”

Blank Check

Every business relationship needs to understand the dynamics of customer service.

For every touchpoint, every transaction, and every opportunity there should be an expectation of trust.

Trust often takes time to build.

Instructing your potential customers to write you a blank check seems kind of silly.

Doesn’t it?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Tag Archives: trust

Jul 21

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Personal Experiences

Jun 21

-

Finding Consistency

Jun 21

-

Trusted Decisions

Jun 21

-

Customer Trust

Jun 21

-

Skeptical Believer

Risky Trust

May 21

-

Building Workplace Trust

Mar 21

-

Reassuring Trust

Feb 21

-

Workplace Consistency

Dec 20

-

Burned Trust

More Than Just Team Members

Nov 20

-

Does Trust Apply?

Backward Thinking?

Blank Check

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