Trust. It's even profitable.

Trust is to success as influence is to leadership. You can't have one without the other. Stephen M. R. Covey, in his book Speed of Trust, tells us that we'll get deals done faster as our trust increases; us trusting others and others trusting us.

Covey outlines trust as Character and Competence.

Character is made up of Integrity and Intent.

Competence is about Capabilities and Results.

As he further breaks each of these down he identifies Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results as the four cores of credibility.  Increase each of these and "deals" will get done faster. Increase the speed of getting business done and expenses go down. We know that as expenses go down, profits will go up.


The more you're trusted, the more you'll profit.

Simple. Huh?

Clutter, and self-image...Raising Lids

You can't outperform you self-image. Maxwell Maltz

Clutter. As I focus on the Ps (plan, pause, pray, patience, purpose, peace, persistence..is that the right Ps?), I'm reminded more and more of the clutter that gets in my way of the big R - RESULTS.

Clutter is not all about what I create for myself, but what others create on my behalf. Or is it what I allow others to create? Either case, I have to deal with it.

And such, it becomes the inability to create. The inability to move forward. Some might say it's a spiritual thing. Maybe so. But, as with a post last November......

Clutter snuck in.

And when that happens, this Choleric/Sanguine (D/I) gets caught up in the reactions.

What am I going to do? I'm Purposefully driving back through my Speed of Trust disciplines and behaviors. I'll Pay attention to my Integrity, Intent, Capabilities and Results as I practice the following 3, of 13 behaviors (can only concentrate on 3) -

Talk Straight, Clarify Expectations, Deliver Results

It's also time for a celebration - looking through the 13 behaviors, I realize how much better I am at practicing all of these than I was 5 years ago. Even a few months ago.

To that end....it's a GREAT DAY!

Sync Your Lips with Your Feet

What you do speaks so loudly that what you say I cannot hear

- Anonymous

Stephen M.R. Covey states "trust is one thing that changes everything. Trust is common to every individual, team, family, nation and organization." Mr. Covey continues with building an excellent compelling business case for Trust and how it is something you can get better at.

Having become a student of Covey's brand of trust the past 7 years, I've used his teachings in my daily practice of coaching, training and life. The one factor that stands out higher than any other is his 2nd core of credibility -

Read more....

Learner - applies to everything

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who 

cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, 

unlearn, and relearn - Alvin Toffler

This quote (above is from Stephen M.R. Covey's Speed of Trust; chapter on "Behavior #7: Get Better."

Things are changing, we all know it, and we must PURPOSEFULLY learn or we'll grow into something we don't want to be.

Learner is one of the 9 Essential Behaviors of Marketing-Smarter-Not-Harder. I write this under the my leadership blog because leaders must market well.

What did you learn yesterday?

What do you want to learn today?

To that end....

Communicate Well - a page from The Speed of Trust in God's Eyes

Death and life are in the power of the tongue

Proverbs 18:21

 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,

so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Colossians 4:6

Most Christians would say they “trust God.” Yet, how is that practiced, how is that played out in the real world? My purpose in the next few minutes is to get you to think just little about Communicating Well; its importance and some practical applications. To help drive these points, I'll use a couple of Biblical illustrations from John Maxwell's Leadership Bible and a behavior as described in Stephen M.R. Covey's Speed of Trust. Hopefully you'll pick up the importance of Communicating Well; that practice sure helps me trust God, myself and others at a much higher level.

Here's a bit about how Talk Straight as described in The Speed of Trust;

Tell the truth and leave the right impression. Be honest and let people know where you stand. Use simple language. Don't manipulate or distort facts. Don't spin the truth. Don't leave false impressions.

Opposite - to lie or deceive

Counterfeit - beating around the bush, withholding information, double-talk, flattery, positioning and spinning the truth. Technically telling the truth, but leaving a false impression. Legally splitting hairs.

The points-to-ponder here are "tell the truth and leave the right impression" and "counterfeits." I've worked at practicing these specific behaviors for over 4 years now and invariably the problem I come across is a distortion, or counterfeit of the behaviors.

A Biblical example of not Communicating Well -

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-6; communication was one of many ways that Adam failed by…

a. ignoring some details in the message he was supposed to communicate
b. allowed himself to be influenced more by Eve than God
c. failing to remember, or ignoring, the consequences of disobeying God
d. not taking responsibility for his communication failure

In this example the king’s hunger for power, unreasonable demands, poor decision and unwillingness to listen ultimately led to his destruction.

Listening and hearing are two separate things. While we all hear as it’s a function of our ears, listening is a willingness, even a response to hearing.

An example of Communicating Well -

1 Samuel 10:3 – 12:25; While Samuel wasn’t “King,” he was the King of Communication. Samuel….

a. spoke words of revelation (back in 7:3)
b. spoke words of inspiration (10:3-6)
c. spoke words of exhortation (10:24)
d. spoke words of affirmation (10:24)
e. spoke words of information (10L25)
f. spoke words of declaration (12:20-25)

Samuel kept his message simple, knew his audience, lived what he preached and looked for a response from the people by urging them to obey God.

Additional scripture about Communicating Well: Exodus 12:3-23, Joshua 4:1-9, Psalm 19:14, Proverbs 12:14, 15:1-7

In closing, here are some additional points-to-ponder:
- you may be a good speaker, but are you a good communicator?
- do you pay close attention to what God is telling you?
- regardless of your temperament, skill or gifts, do you give appropriate attention to detail?
- as a leader and a follower are you clear about the message your speaking and hearing?


Communicate Well in your management, leading and especially following!

Danny

Note: other writings on "a page from...." can be found by searching this blog for "a page." This is part of an ongoing project as described @ http://thespeedoftrustingodseyesproject.blogspot.com/

Listening Well: A page from "The Speed of Trust in God's Eyes"

“…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”

James 1:19

“Low trust causes friction, whether it is caused by unethical behavior or by ethical but incompetent behavior.Low trust is the greatest cost in life and in organizations, including families…Low trust slows everything – every decision, every communication, and every relationship. On the other hand, trust produces speed..the greatest trust building key is “results.” Results build brand loyalty. Results inspire and fire up a winning culture….also put suppliers and customers under the main tent as strategic partners…”

Page xxv of Forward in Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

In his book Covey describes Trust in a very unique way that include the behavior of Listen First. In his description Listen First is a component of both Character and Competence.

Behavior #11: Listen First
Listen before you speak. Understand. Diagnose. Listen with your ears – and your eyes and heart. Find out what the most important behaviors are to the people you’re working with. Don’t assume you know what matters most to others. Don’t presume you have all the answers – or all the questions.

Covey points out the Opposite of Listen First is "To speak first and listen last, or not to listen at all "

My years of practicing and teaching Speed of Trust has brought a real appreciation for how Mr. Covey points out the "Counterfeit" to the Behaviors. The counterfeit to Listen First is – Listening without understanding, pretending to listen, spending “listening” time formulating your reply, focusing only on getting out your agenda.

In 2 Chronicles 10:15 there's an example* of NOT Listening Well, or First - “So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word….” (NKJ)

In this example the king’s hunger for power, unreasonable demands, poor decision and unwillingness to listen ultimately led to his destruction.

Listening and hearing are two separate things. While we all hear as it’s a function of our ears, listening is a willingness, even a response to hearing.

An good example* of Listen First can be found in 1 Samuel 26:1-25 – In these verses of scripture David displays an example of many of the behaviors Covey teaches in Speed of Trust including the Listen First -

a. David initiated contact with Saul and set the stage for communication
b. David appealed to Saul’s sense of right and wrong
c. David asked questions and listened for a heartfelt response
d. David asked Saul to listen so he could share his perspective
e. David was determined to own up to anything he had done wrong
f. David submitted himself to Saul
g. David offered forgiveness and reconciliation as an act of trust in God

David displayed love in everyway in this exchange. As you hear people today, listen to them by loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and loving others as you love yourself. Trust is in direct relationship to this verse about love.

Additional scripture about listening; 1 Samuel 3:1-3, Job 2:11-13, Habakkuk 1:1-11, Luke 2:42-52

History proves that we will be the same five years from today in direct relationship to who we associate with, the books we read, what we watch and what we hear. Be purposeful and listen well to what your hearing and what you say to yourself.


To that end, do today well.


Blessings, Danny

Note: other writings on "a page from...." can be found by searching this blog for "a page." This is part of an ongoing project as described @ http://thespeedoftrustingodseyesproject.blogspot.com/



*Examples of Listening Well and Not Well taken from "The Leadership Bible" by John Maxwell

Trust. What Does It Mean to Sales, to Conflict, to Followership?

One of my "daylies" is to think about the recent past and what sticks out at me about meetings, appointments, conversations, etc, etc. I'll then right down those thoughts and compare to any notes; typically this takes 3-5 minutes and I move on. Ever so often, something causes me to pause and dig deeper.

This morning was one of those ever so oftens. My thoughts kept running to sales, conflict, sales, following, sales, conflict...

For whatever its worth, those thoughts led me to this video about trust. I first saw it almost 3 years ago when I was going through Covey's Speed of Trust train the trainer in DC. Let me know what you think.



Blessings,

Counterfeit Credibility

A former employee of mine used to talk about people's passive-agressive behavior and I had the hardest time getting a grip on what he meant. I'd ask him what he meant and typically get a clinical answer until it hit me that it was saying one thing and then doing something else. Ha. I thought that was lying! Or just plain bad behavior and a lack of credibility. I'm a plain English type guy and either someone has credibility, or they don't. They're either lying, or telling the truth. Right?  Covey, in his book Speed of Trust, introduces the Four Cores of Credibility; Character, Competence, Intent and Results and I pound these out in my training and coaching. We'll cover these four cores in the coming weeks, but first, what does Counterfeit Credibility look like?

Credibility, or lack of, shows up most in behaviors.Googling counterfeit brought up over 7 million hits and credibility 948,000. Counterfeit means; made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills. Pretended; unreal.

Credibility means; capable of being believed; believable: a credible statement. Worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy: a credible witness.

So, Counterfeit Credibility is when one's credibility, or credible statement, or credible witness is an imitation, deceptive, not genuine, and deceptive.

See if you recognize any of these counterfeit behaviors in yourself or those around you:

• Technically telling the truth
• Legally splitting hairs
• Spinning the real issues
• Withholding information (well, they didn't ask the right question)
• Hidden motives and agendas (arg, I know you aren't supposed to hate, but I seriously can't stand this one)
• Passive-aggressive behavior
• Being driven by circumstance and not conscience
• Being two-faced; pretending to care
• Pretending to pay attention
• Being busy to look busy and not getting results
• Not accepting the blame when it is your fault

These behaviors destroys others trust in us, AND your trust in yourself.

To that end....

Trusting Yourself First

I have a few firm beliefs. One of them is this; "if I can't trust myself, I will not trust others."


Covey, in The Speed of Trust, talks about self trust in connection with it being the principle of credibility. I agree that to be credible to others one first has to trust themselves, and how well one trust oneself is in direct proportion to how WELL one trust another.

I've struggle with this quite a bit because there are areas in which I think trust myself but don't feel I can trust another. So, I circle back around to - what is good trust? Am I blindly trust someone? Are the results of the trust in proper proportion to the trust being given in the event it turns out bad?

We have to be certain we have the proper concept of trust down first and then we have to keep circling back to our own trust.

Do I trust myself to do what I need to get done in even the small things. Example; definsive driving - after getting a speeding ticket I knew when I agreed to take definsive driving that it would be a very slim chance that I would set down at a computer for 8 hours, or go to a comedy class, or whatever. Give me a break! A comedy class about definsive driving. It obviously works but I'll have to have at least one more ticket first.

I digressed....agreeing with the Bee Cave court to take definsive driving was just plain stupid on my part and after not taking it, missing the next court date, paying the money I would have gotten out of, but paying for the definsive driving anyway, I now have another court date scheduled as I try get out of the $595 fine for missing the court date for not taking definsive driving that I knew wouldn't happen. I remember walking out of the court last March thinking "Smith! What did you just do? You agreed to set down and take definsive driving? Just pay the other $100 and be done with it!"

And what does that have to do with trusting others? Everything. In order to have a propensity to trust, one has to have a true north, a core, a foundation to start with. That true north starts with yourself. The Bible says to love others as we love ourselves. I know, it says to first to Love God, but that's another posting.

God Bless, learn to trust yourself.

To that end....