Trust is an interesting concept. And a necessary one for managers at all levels, but especially for CEOs. When trust doesn’t permeate an organization distrust, discord, fear, and other negative behaviors may take root. Trust is the kind of weed killer gardeners dream of—killing only designated plants and harmless to the rest of the garden.

Obviously, trust can be built over time, but how can you create “instant” trust? Or is that even possible? eBay, and other selling sites, have proved that instant trust is possible, with millions of total strangers buying from, and selling to, total strangers. How’d they do it? According to a survey of buyers and sellers it’s ratings that build trust. Not surprising, companies have been checking references for years. Both on and off line businesses love to show off their testimonials, whether posted on their website or tacked up on bulletin board near the cash register.

Managers, too, are rated locally, industry-wide and, sometimes, even globally, in a street rep[utation] that proceeds them. One of the best examples is Steve Jobs. I have yet to read an article about bad bosses (most recent) that doesn’t mention him. Steve is a perfectionist manager, well known as a screamer, who will stop someone in the hall and scream about an error (no matter how tiny) and publicly humiliate the person about their “stupidity.” People who work for him do so to learn—and they do. They also have ulcers, panic attacks, and other stress-related problems. (Managers like Jobs, whose brilliance, talent and charisma offset their woeful management skill, are practically nonexistent, so he’s probably not the best role model from a people-management perspective.)

As a manager you already have a street rep and you would do well to listen in to what people are saying about you.

• Google yourself, but be prepared for the worst, since bad comments always get more play than good ones.
• Arrange to be reviewed by your peers and those who report to you; if you want total honesty make the review truly anonymous.
• Set up a “Review blog; juice the responses by posting an area to review that day (leadership, assigning tasks, people development, vision, etc.). For this to work you need to leave all comments (except for real spam) up and unedited, although you can respond if it makes sense. Deleting/editing comments invites the writers to post far worse elsewhere.
• Talk to people and really listen to the responses.

One of the best ways to build your street rep (i.e., trust) is to use the feedback to actually change! If you’re told that

• it’s difficult to understand exactly what you want done when you assign tasks;
• they’re not sure exactly what your vision is;
• instructions are confusing

then you should realize that your communications skills need work and start improving them immediately!

Everything I’ve said here applies equally well to the company’s street rep, both how to find it and how to fix it.

Ratings, references, testimonials, call them what you will, they are critical to building trust which is the basis of a great street rep and street reps have a major impact on attracting and retaining talent!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 13th, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Business info, Communication, Culture, Hiring, Motivation, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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