Trust and respect: a little trust goes a long way
Developing trust and respect as a leader is a vital aspect of a successful organisation. Phil Spurr shares his views on how you go about achieving this.
One of the most striking memories I have of arriving in a struggling school as the new headteacher is the response of the staff when I announced that I would really like them to call me ‘Phil’. This was received with some shock and amazement as my predecessor had always insisted on being called Mr Jones (name changed to protect the guilty!).
Traditionally, I suppose the use of a formal title signifies some respect and recognition for the position and authority of the individual. It quickly became apparent that respect was not a word used by most of the staff in that particular school to describe relationships in general or their relationship with the previous headteacher.
Quite obviously, the use of a title does not always signify real respect.
Another word which would generally not have been used to describe relationships in that school is trust.
So, in my view, two critical elements of developing and maintaining high quality, professional relationships in any working environment were sadly lacking.
“Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” Steven R Covey
“Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it you have to give it.” R G Risch
These quotes suggest that trust and respect, which seem to go together quite naturally, are hugely important aspects of a successful, sustainable improvement culture. If trust is a “foundation principle” and respect for a leader so important then surely these need to be given proper consideration as part of any leadership strategies and styles. Rather than “trusting” that trust and respect will somehow be a fundamental part of our organisation, let’s consider how to make that a reality.
Of course, there are different aspects of trust and respect within organisations which may threaten to overcomplicate things. For example, trust and respect for the leader may be very different from trust and respect for other colleagues. In a school, adults treating each other with respect may not always translate into treating children the same way.
So, what should leaders do and say to develop trust and respect both for themselves as leaders and to establish these elements as part of the organisation’s culture?
Before considering that question, some other thoughts. According to research (by Lencioni), an absence of trust is one of the main characteristics of dysfunctional teams. There are others, but without trust, teams lack a key foundation upon which they can build their working practice and effectiveness.
So what is trust and why is it so important?
Dictionaries reveal numerous references to trust in a range of contexts so I’m going for the first two I found – “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability… of a person or thing” and “confident expectation of something; hope”.
The latter definition also reminds me of a leadership quote someone told me which has stuck in my mind and seems relevant; “Above all things, never diminish hope.”
These ideals seem to fit with what I think about in schools and organisations and with work done to identify different types of trust. Here the two most relevant for me are:
•“Competence trust” – that which exists between colleagues who know that they will complete an agree task
•“Identification-based trust” – that which is based upon a shared commitment to and responsibility for an agreed outcome.
When I consider trust as a part of work culture, I often relate it to driving on a motorway and I believe that there are elements of this which could be applied to organisations.
When driving on a motorway, or any other road, we need to be able to trust that the drivers around us will all do the right thing. While it is vital that we make our contribution and do our job properly, we also rely on others to be focused, committed, fully engaged, competent, aware of our position and considerate of the fact that we would all like to reach our destination safely and on time. We also need those who would like to go too fast or too slow to realise the chaos and damage they could cause. Without this trust in our fellow travellers we would either never drive on a motorway or we would all drive so cautiously that the whole point of motorways, getting to our destination faster, would be lost.
Talking of speed, other research suggests that the higher the levels of trust in an organisation the more effective and efficient they will be. Perhaps it’s about less time spent driving cautiously, jockeying for position, questioning motives and direction and more time feeling supported, confident, able to trust others and go with the flow?
Another vivid, and very revealing memory of the same school, is arriving for my first visit to be confronted by a teacher and student in the lobby area, face to face, inches apart, shouting at each other. Mutual respect and rapport? Relationships conducive to a supportive learning environment? Modelling expected behaviours and attitudes? Working together to resolve conflicts and concerns?
That first impression, although obviously not necessarily representative of all relationships in the school, gave immediate clues about possible elements of the existing culture. Partly as a result of that incident, along with concerns about who was making the most noise in school sometimes (teachers or pupils?), we introduced a no shouting rule. Unless there was some kind of dire incident when nothing else would do issues can be effectively dealt with without shouting. After all, what does regular shouting say about relationships between teachers and students, the quality of behavior management strategies, modelling positive behaviours and the overall culture of the school?
So, part of establishing mutually respectful relationships means, as the saying goes, treating others as you would like to be treated. For me, earning respect includes listening, acknowledging success and effort, making expectations and consequences clear, being consistent and fair, keeping your word and being honest, including when you get things wrong. If trust and respect are such vital elements of high quality working relationships and successful teams then surely leaders need to give some thought as to how they can be developed rather than assuming that they will be there.
Published June 2012
Phil Spurr was a headteacher in Worcestershire for 17 years, leading 2 schools out of special measures. He is now a school improvement and leadership development adviser and works as a facilitator on National College leadership development programmes.
Action
Model leadership behaviours – earn trust and respect
•Open, honest and inclusive leadership style
•Encourage ‘open’ communications – no whispering in corners, no secrets
•Communicate clearly – include everyone
•Be consistent – keep goals as clear and steady as possible
•Involve everyone in identifying the destination and plotting the course
•Only promise what you can deliver – keep your promises
•Listen – and be seen to respond
•Be visible and accessible – open the door
•Treat everyone with respect – including children
•De-centralise – share leadership, actively develop others
•Admit mistakes and when you need help
•Actively seek and value guidance and advice from others
•Encourage and accept constructive criticism
•Accept that other people may have greater skills than you – give them opportunities
•Be seen to be consistent and fair
•Acknowledge your own mistakes – say sorry when you’re wrong
•Be polite and consider others
•Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ a lot
•Acknowledge effort and success, support failure
•Consult widely – then decide and inform
•Encourage supportive attitudes and culture – “no fear of failure”
•Be flexible and compromise
Impact
We know that:
•The leader will be open, honest and keep us informed – no secrets
•We will be treated fairly and with respect
•We are involved in planning the way forward
•The leader is visible and approachable – we know who they are, what they stand for and that they are with us
•We will be consulted as much as possible – we have a voice, our views and feelings are valued and taken into account
•Flexibility and compromise are always possible
•The leader will not make false promises and will keep promises made
•We can admit mistakes, learn from them and move on
•The leader will tell us if things aren’t going well and work with us to improve
•The leader communicates clearly and appropriately
•Our efforts and successes are recognised
•We are trusted and supported
•We are all in this together, we support each other
•We can express our views, we don’t need to whisper in corners
•We respect and trust our leader – we respect and trust each other