Lead Culture with Jenni Catron

219 | 4 Unexpected Trust-Building Behaviors of Extraordinary Culture

• Art of Leadership Network

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Looking to create extraordinary teams and a culture of trust in your workspace? In today's episode from Jenni's Culture Conference 2023 talk, we'll uncover the four trust-building actions designed to bolster relationships and nurture a thriving work environment.

As Jenni has worked with teams, helping them diagnose the health of their culture, she has found - time and time again - that a lack of trust is often at the heart of culture erosion. The good news is that there are some simple things we can do as leaders to begin rebuilding that trust or reinforcing it before it erodes. In this talk, Jenni addresses those behaviors and gives you suggestions to build trust that builds healthy teams.

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Jenni Catron:

Hey friends, I'm your host, Jenni Catron, and this is the Lead Culture Podcast, where I coach you to lead yourself well so you can lead others better. My team and I at the 4sight Group are committed to building confident leaders, extraordinary teams and thriving cultures. Each week, we'll take a deep dive into a leadership or culture topic that will give you the tools you need to lead with clarity and confidence and build a thriving team. Now, you guys, last week, we had the privilege of hosting Culture Conference for the third consecutive year and it was absolutely amazing. I hope you were there for it. The speakers were phenomenal and the feedback we've received so far is fantastic the teams that watched together, the teams that learned together and just sparked good conversations to help continue to build the thriving cultures we all hope for. And so I never get over the privilege. It is to equip leaders with resources that encourage them and support them in their growth. That's you. That's what I hope we're doing every week with Lead Culture. That's what I hope we're doing through some of the different resources we create, including the Culture Conference Just helping you grow, helping your team grow and ultimately seeing the impact towards your mission, that growth for your organization. That's what it's all about. We know that healthy teams are that linchpin between that purpose, our driving why and our strategy how we're going to make it happen. And when we align a team and we see teams working effectively together, I feel like they are unstoppable. So that's what we're trying to do. That's what we're trying to help you do in the work that you're doing. So I hope that Culture Conference was a resource to you that really just catapulted great conversations. We got to invest in thousands of leaders last week and it is absolutely a gift. I am on Cloud 9 because it is just so much fun. So, if you joined us, thank you for being a part. I know that the investment of time is an investment, even though the conference was free to you because of our sponsors, including Leadr, Clever, Ministry Brands and Thrivent, and then our Generis, Vanderbloemen amazing amazing organizations that are all committed to coming together and making this possible. But I know you invested time and so I hope that time was used wisely. So thank you for being a part, investing in yourself and being committed to the important work of leading yourself well and leading your team even better. But for those of you that maybe missed it. I have a treat for you today. For those of you that were there, I think it'll be hopefully a fun refresher in case you didn't get to hear this talk all the way through.

Jenni Catron:

But today, on the podcast, I'm sharing my talk from Culture Conference. We're going to replay it as it was in the conference. You'll hear me reference it a little bit, but I'm talking about four unexpected, trust-building behaviors of extraordinary culture and, as I've worked with teams helping them diagnose the health of their culture, we get to do this all the time. It's so much fun. I kind of geek out about this when organizations invite us to come in and help them just assess where are we, even if it doesn't feel terrible. Right, we all know that there's no perfect culture because there's no perfect people, and so just taking a good look at what is happening in our culture we're going to be talking about just taking a good look at what is happening inside of our team, like assessing where are we doing well, where are we struggling a little bit, where can we bring clarity? We love doing that and, as we've been doing that, one of the things that I find time and time again is that there's often a lack of trust at the heart of culture erosion.

Jenni Catron:

So some teams they're nearly toxic and there's been just complete like trust is gone and we're starting from the ground up. But for a lot of teams it's just some little splinters that have started to create mistrust, and we see that a lot that really at the heart of some of the culture issues is a trust issue between leaders and their teams, between people within the teams, et cetera. And so the good news is that there are some simple things that we can do as leaders to begin rebuilding that trust or reinforcing it before it completely erodes. I find, like it's really fascinating to me that sometimes we make it more complicated than it is, that there really are some rather simple behaviors, some simple things that we can do as leaders whether you're leading a team or you're leading the whole organization but there are some simple things that you can do that begin rebuilding that trust or reinforcing the health of your team. So in this talk I addressed those behaviors and then I'd give you some suggestions to build trust that builds healthy teams. So here's my talk from Culture Conference 2023 for unexpected trust building behaviors of extraordinary culture.

Jenni Catron:

Thank you for a moment about one of the best work experiences you've been a part of. I bet I can predict what you experienced. I bet you worked for a leader you admired and respected. I bet you had coworkers who were also friends. I bet you enjoyed the organization because you felt like the work you were doing had purpose and meaning. I bet you were passionate about your role because you understood your responsibilities and what was expected of you, and I bet you were excited about the mission of the organization. So if I had to boil all of those things down to one word, I'd say that that word is trust. You trusted your leader, you trusted your coworkers, you trusted the mission of the organization and you trusted what was expected of you.

Jenni Catron:

So now my question is why? Why did you have all of that trust? What created that level of trust? Because we know that trust is the foundation of teams. Trust is really the currency of healthy working relationships, really any relationship. So we absolutely believe that trust is key. I suspect we're not arguing with the premise, but most of us find ourselves perplexed with what to do when trust is lacking. Trust falls and team bonding activities generally invoke eye rolls, don't they? Because we know that it's more than that. We often think, well, maybe the team just needs more time together, or we need to focus on relationships and connection. And yes, those things are a good start because, after all, it's difficult to build trust without relationships. But as I've worked with hundreds of teams and I've analyzed cultures of all sizes, I found that there are some relatively simple things we can do as leaders to build trust in our organization that will lead to a stronger and healthier culture.

Jenni Catron:

Recently, my friend, steve, a senior leader of an organization, reached out to me to ask for my help. He had some challenges that their team was facing. They had shifted some strategies that resulted in pretty sizable changes throughout the organization Probably not unlike some of the changes you've made over the past few years and his team was feeling the tension. Now, this is a leader I know well. He's trustworthy, he's deeply committed to the mission of the organization he leads, he loves his team and sincerely wants everyone to be thriving, but the problem was they weren't.

Jenni Catron:

So I started my work by interviewing various team members just to get their perspective and their insights, and what I quickly discovered were the typical culture busting behaviors that plague so many teams, things like confusion, confusion, chaos, suspicion, competition and mistrust. And as I talked to each team member, they actually still expressed hope. They wanted to believe the best overall, but their day-to-day interactions were tense and that tension was only growing. It was clear that without some course correction, the connection and the camaraderie that used to be a hallmark of this team would be lost. So what caused a team that was thriving to seemingly overnight, find themselves struggling? The story probably isn't unfamiliar to you. I bet you've been there at some point too. See, I identified that Steve's team had really lost two things clarity and trust. So what I want to share with you today is how the first a lack of clarity leads to the second a lack of trust.

Jenni Catron:

Now, if you joined us for Culture Conference last year, you may remember me sharing the culture hierarchy of needs from our LEED culture framework. Now, the culture hierarchy of needs identifies the five key things employees need to fully engage in your organization. So today I want to take a deeper dive on the organizational clarity level of the hierarchy. This is the level of the hierarchy that continues to be a stumbling block for the best of leaders. In fact, of the thousands of leaders who have taken our free assessment, you guys 55% identify organizational clarity as the blind spot that is the most challenging for them. So here are the core elements of organizational clarity Clarity of purpose, clarity of role, clarity of responsibility and clarity of direction.

Jenni Catron:

Now, none of that feels terribly earth shattering, does it? You're likely not arguing with the concept of providing those things, but I wonder if you fully understand how these seemingly simple things connect to some of the greatest frustrations we feel within our teams, things like misalignment, complacency and quiet quitting. These frustrating behaviors are often a result of a lack of clarity. Now we tend to think that they're an attitude problem right, that people just have a bad attitude but I believe those issues are typically a clarity problem. Think about it for a minute. If you don't have an org chart, or your org chart is not actually how you work, it's easy for team members to be confused about who to go to for what right, who does what around here. They might also have expectations of others that are just misinformed or wrong and, as a result, they're frustrated or worse, it's sparking tension between team members. Lacking clear goals and direction, team members are likely to do the bare minimum, resulting in a general sense of complacency within the organization. And if people are just doing the bare minimum instead of their best, how can we trust them with more? See, a simple lack of clarity starts to erode trust, and that trust erosion goes both ways. Leaders don't trust staff and staff don't trust leaders.

Jenni Catron:

Now, friends, here's the good news Whether you're in an executive leadership seat or the leader of a department or a volunteer team, there is a level of clarity that you can provide to your team that builds a foundation of trust. Today, I want to share with you some simple but powerful trust-building behaviors that you can begin applying immediately. See, one of the problems with culture is that it's really an outcome. Whatever culture you have is a result of what you've put in it. So we have to be intentional about what we put into our culture. This is why I use the phrase lead culture. Great culture doesn't happen by accident. It's created by intentional investment, and trust is an essential part of that.

Jenni Catron:

Perhaps what gets me most excited about this is that what I'm about to share with you isn't difficult. Will it take some time? Yes. Will it take some intentionality? Yes. Will it require commitment? Yes. But, friends, that's the heart of leadership, and I am completely confident that you're up for the challenge.

Jenni Catron:

So here are our four trust-building behaviors that create extraordinary teams. The first one is be a dot connector. So what do I mean by that? I mean champion the why of your organization and be relentless in communicating your purpose. What is your mission and how are you communicating it to your staff and reminding them every single day why you do what you do? It's not enough to put the mission on your wall. You've got to find a way to keep your team tethered to that mission at all times. Tell stories of impact, put pictures of those you serve around the office, share success stories of how you've achieved your mission and regularly remind your team of why it matters. Share the mission every way you can and in as many ways as you can, and then do it again. Share it until they mimic you, share it until they're repeating it, for you See yourself as that chief purpose champion and own that title, because, guys, if you don't believe it, why would they? The more confident you are in the mission, the more your team will trust the importance of your purpose.

Jenni Catron:

Now here's what is crazy about Steve, that leader that I was helping. He's a fantastic visionary. Their organization has an amazing mission and purpose, but he forgot to connect the dots for the team. Caught up in the busyness of their day-to-day responsibilities, his team just lost sight of their why and, as a result, were feeling a bit disillusioned and distracted. So as he re-engaged their purpose and put into practice some of my coaching, he quickly saw his team's energy and passion return. So the second trust-building behavior that builds extraordinary teams is be an architect.

Jenni Catron:

You need to structure your team to support your strategy. Your org chart should make it very clear who does what and why. Every seat on the team is critical to achieving your mission, or at least it should be. So this should be the premise behind your organizational structure. Now some of you are saying we don't even have an org chart. That would be problem number one. You need a structure that defines how every role helps you accomplish your mission. Is your structure designed to help you achieve that mission? Can team members look at the org structure to know who to go to for what? Does it help them understand how to work within the team? You build trust with your team when they understand how your team is structured and where they fit in that equation. Everyone wants to know where they belong and how they fit. So a clear structure gives them confidence that their role matters and is intentional to achieving your mission. Your team members can trust that their role is critical to the organization. So when I shared this with Steve and his team, the light bulbs were going off all over. They realized that their lack of organizational structure was creating frustration and gridlock for their team. They didn't understand how they worked together. It just wasn't clear. So as soon as they began architecting their structure, everyone on the team had a better understanding of where they fit and how they could contribute. Alright, so let's look at Trust Building Behavior Number 3. Be a designer.

Jenni Catron:

In addition to helping each team member understand their role in the organization, we also need to be specific about each team member's responsibilities and your expectations of them. Now, leaders, we're kind of bad at this. We all love each other and we want to assume everyone understands what's expected of them, but oftentimes they don't. So we have to be clear about this. Your team wants to do meaningful work, so when they understand the structure and the importance of every role, and then they understand their specific responsibility and what you expect of them, they can more confidently contribute. With this clarity, they can trust that the work they do matters and they're not wasting time trying to guess what you really want or what you expect. Additionally, this level of clarity for each role helps team members understand what to expect from one another, and when each person on the team understands the role of their teammates, they can do good work together and build trust with each other in the process.

Jenni Catron:

Trust begins to expand throughout the organization as each team member is confidently playing their part. So when I was interviewing some of Steve's staff, I heard over and over from them that they just wanted to understand how to succeed. They just wanted to win. So as we designed job descriptions and expectations for them, they were re-energized and excited about their work. And so, finally, the fourth trust-building behavior is be a compass. You have to set the direction With an understanding of your why, your purpose, and clarity around your roles and responsibilities.

Jenni Catron:

Team members now need to understand where to direct their energy. What are you aiming for? What does success look like? It's hard to hit a target that's ill-defined, isn't it? In fact, one of the biggest trust busters for team members is when they think they're doing what they're supposed to be doing and then they get redirected. So the clearer the target, the more team members can confidently do their work and trust that they'll succeed in their efforts. So my team and I at the Foresight Group are committed to cultivating healthy leaders to lead thriving teams, and we're here to support you in your trust-building journey. You can scan the QR code on the screen to download our free brand-new resource, your Trust Building Checklist, which will help you assess where you need to focus to build the trust that sets the foundation for an extraordinary culture.

Jenni Catron:

Friends, you build trust when you provide clarity, and these four trust-building behaviors provide clarity that will unleash your team. The more confident and comfortable your team is with the purpose, their role, their responsibilities and the direction of your organization, the more trusting they are to fully engage in your mission. So, keep leading well and keep building trust. Okay, friends, I hope that was helpful. I'd love to hear if it was helpful and I'd love to hear what resonated with you.

Jenni Catron:

You know what of those four different behaviors really connected with you, and which of those trust-building behaviors do you need to focus on? Right, you probably identified one of them that you're like ah, okay, I need to give some attention there and I would encourage you to take just a couple of steps towards that. Take some time to evaluate where can you invest in building trust with your team, because I promise you it will make a difference. And I know there's a ton of things buying for your time. But I would encourage you, take what you learned, take what you heard, assess and evaluate which one of those might need a little attention from you and take a few steps towards creating that clarity and building that trust.

Jenni Catron:

And then, if you wanna get a copy of the trust-building checklist that I referenced, just simply email us at podcast at get4sight. com the word podcast at get4sight, g-e-t, the number four, s-i-g-h-t dot com, and just type trust-building in the subject line in the body somewhere. Just put trust-building. We'll know what you want and we will send you the link to that free resource. Just a simple way to kinda do a quick evaluation. You know what I would do if I were you.

Jenni Catron:

I would get that trust-building resource and then I would give it to all of my team and say, hey, evaluate us on this. Just put some check boxes. Let's come back and talk about it next week in our team meeting. So email podcast at get4sight. com. Type trust-building in the subject line or the body of the message and we will send that back your way. All right, friends, thank you for joining me today, thank you for continuing to invest in your health as a leader and the health of your team, and I hope this episode equipped you to keep leading well, and I will see you next time. We'll see you then.