Core Values: Relationships—A Matter of Trust
In the first article in this series about PFL’s “core values,” we explored value No. 1: “People.” As explained in that piece, hiring and retaining the right people is critical to our—in fact, everybody’s—business and strategy. The reason is clear: the right people build relationships that create progress and deliver results. In the same way that not all people are destined to be a part of the team, not all relationships lead to progress.
That’s why it’s important to understand the profile of a good relationship. I believe that the critical link between people and relationships is “Trust.” Simply put, people who engender trust build strong and healthy relationships.
Every business must create progress toward results. How progress is achieved is critically important. Leaders must take a long-term view to build a healthy and scalable business for years to come. If we beg, borrow, and steal to push a single deal through, we might very well achieve our short-term goal, but, in the process, we’ve built nothing of value. Instead, teams should seek to build trust and solid relationships that both deliver on the immediate needs of the business, but also build a foundation on which future deals can be delivered.
Where People and Relationships Meet
Trust is where people and relationships meet. Trust is influenced by the integrity, intent, humility, and capabilities of all the people involved.
Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything said: “How does humility manifest itself in leadership and in life? A humble person is more concerned about what is right than about being right, about acting on good ideas than having the ideas, about embracing new truth than defending outdated positions, about building the team than exalting self, about recognizing contribution than being recognized for making it.”
We need our teammates. We need partners. We need customers. And they need us. It is imperative that leaders create a company in which people can trust one another.
We need our teammates. We need partners. We need customers. And they need us. It is imperative that leaders create a company in which people can trust one another to do what they say they’ll do, and to do the right thing no matter what. This creates a company in which people embrace challenges, engage in hard conversations, and build trusted relationships internally and externally.
The World Runs on Relationships
Now, and in the future, it is important and possible to lean on trusted relationships to manifest progress. Many of the customers we have worked with over the years—even while moving companies or changing roles—bring us along with them to their new enterprise or team. This is not only because of products or technology or strategy—it is the result of trust. This is the value of relationships.
For readers who would like to learn more about how to build relationships on a foundation of trust, I recommend the following, in addition to the Covey book noted above: The Five Disfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni.
It’s time to ask yourself, what are you doing to build trust in your relationships with your teammates, customers, and partners? The answers might surprise you because, in the end, you’ll realize it’s all a matter of trust.
This is the second part of a four-part series which started with “People.” Next up: “Progress.”
