‘ANC Presents: Leading with Trust, A Session with Stephen M.R. Covey” is part of the country’s premier all-English cable news channel’s efforts to raise the level of discourse on global affairs and business issues in the country by bringing globally respected thought leaders for a one-day speaking engagement.
Covey’s discourse had clear relevance to the PR profession where the more trust you develop, the more effective you will be in the practice. Relationship trust in PR, and in most careers, is all about consistent behavior. People judge you on behavior, not intent. As Covey declared, “People can’t see your heart, but they can see your behavior.”
Covey—leadership guru, a Harvard MBA holder, best-selling author, and CEO of the Covey Leadership Center—urged Filipino and Philippine-based leaders and professionals in business and the government to learn the “economies of trust” to achieve success in different aspects of business. His talk offered critical advice on how to dynamically handle trust to fast-track growth and lessen expenses, while steering clear of mistakes. The higher the level of trust in your company, the faster it can move with more efficient costs.
Covey made a case for trust, citing the three big ideas: Trust is an economic driver, not merely a social virtue; Trust is the No. 1competency of leadership needed today; and Trust is learnable. He posited that individuals and organizations can work on developing their credibility through their behavior, character can be developed through integrity and intent, and competence can be developed through capabilities and results.
ABS-CBN Integrated News Head and ANC Managing Director Ging Reyes said, “Covey’s talk is very useful and relevant for organizations in this age of disruption, negativity, doubt and distrust. It’s important to build a culture of trust in organizations whether you are in the private sector, in media, in government, or even if you are just a small team. It’s important to remember how character and behavior help in the building of trust and in making sure that members of your team are on the same page.”
Key takeaways
TRUST is an economic priority, not merely a social virtue. You can put an economic value on it. When trust is low, pay a “trust tax” because speed and efficiency goes down and cost goes up. When trust is high, companies get “trust dividends” because speed goes up—everything will happen faster and cost will go down. The role of both leaders and employees play in building a high-trust environment and achieving results.
Learn and practice “smart trust.” Trust is confidence. Its opposite is distrust. It covers both character and competence. Smart trust is good judgment, a third alternative from two extremes: blind trust or gullibility, and distrust or suspicion. Adapt a high propensity for doing so to inspire innovation, creativity, and reciprocity, which eventually leads to “trust dividends” or financial gains.
Trust and distrust can be reciprocated. Trust is contagious; so is distrust. But when you give your trust, people not only return it, but are inspired by it. They rise to the occasion. They perform better and it brings out the best in them. Imagine the reciprocal equation of distrust. It can be distressing and destructive.
Trust is divided into four core components: integrity, intent, capability and result. The first two define character; the latter two define competence. Measuring where trust falls short with any of these components provides a road map for how to repair, build or extend trust. Covey’s discourse articulated how to build trust and provided helpful rules to prioritize your trust investments.
1 Integrity. It is being honest, telling the truth and leaving the correct impression. Beyond honesty, integrity requires three things: congruence, where your behavior is consistent with your values; humility, doing what is right, which must be more important than being right; and courage, a requirement when the right action is hard.
2 Intent. Covey defined intent as a plan or purpose, and broke it into three components: motive (the “why” of intent). The most motive trust-inspiring motive is one that shows genuine care for your stakeholders; agenda (what do you intend to do based on your motive?) that inspires the greatest trust is mutually beneficial; and behavior (the actual action that results from the motive and agenda) that inspires the greatest trust is acting in the best interests of others.
3 Capability. You need to have the ability to accomplish the required task. It has four main parts: talent, attitude, knowledge and style. The more these enhance the needs of the situation, the higher the competence.
4 Results. This is the most powerful and simplest test for trust. But not just what the results were, but how they were earned.
There are 13 behaviors high-trust leaders manifest that demonstrate character, competence and management potential. Covey’s book Speed of Trust provides more meat to this list.
1 Talk straight. Express what is on your mind. Don’t hide your agenda. When you talk straight, you tell the truth and leave the right impression. Straight talk needs to be paired with appropriate voice or tonality.
2 Demonstrate respect. The behavior is acting out the Golden Rule. You should treat people the way we want to be treated. Your actions should show you care. You should be sincere.
3 Create transparency. It is anchored on the principles of honesty, openness, integrity and authenticity. It is based on doing things in the open where all can see.
4 Right wrongs. Much more than apologizing, it involves making restitution. It is the principle of going the extra mile. Some will justify their wrongful behavior while others will try covering up their misdeeds. Both these attempts will not only fail to make deposits in trust accounts, but are certain to make substantial withdrawals.
5 Show loyalty. Covey focused on two ways of showing loyalty. First, give credit to others. Never take credit for the hard work of others. Second, speak about others as if they were present. Talking about others behind their back will decrease trust with your current audience.
6 Deliver results. Credibility and trust are by-products of results. Delivering results is based on competence. This behavior grows out of the principles of responsibility, accountability and performance. Delivering results converts the cynics establishes trust in new relationships and restores trust that has been lost due to incompetence.
7 Get better. You cannot learn a skill and ride that one skill for 30 years. You must constantly be improving. When others see you continually learning and adapting to change, they become more confident in your ability to lead into the future. Covey suggested two ways to get better. First, seek feedback from those around you. Second, learn from your mistakes
8 Confront reality. If you are honest about the difficult issues and are addressing them head-on, people will trust you. You must avoid the temptation to circumvent reality or act as if you are addressing the difficult issues while you are evading them.
9 Clarify expectations. Focus on a shared vision of success up front. When expectations are not clearly defined openly, trust and speed both go down. Failure to clarify expectations leaves people guessing. When results are delivered, they fall short and are not valued.
10 Practice accountability. This includes taking responsibility for bad results. It is often your natural response to blame others for failure. When you fail, you need to look in the mirror. Holding others accountable allows performers to feel good about the job they are doing. It also increases trust by assuring performers that slackers and poor performers will not pull them down.
11 Listen first. Communication is more than just words so you will have to listen to nonverbal cues, as well. If a person is displaying a high level of emotion, for example, they don’t feel understood. Keep listening. A person is not likely to ask for advice until they feel you understand all the pertinent information. Don’t give advice too early.
12 Keep commitments. When you make a commitment, you build hope. When you keep a commitment, you build trust. Be careful when making them. Make only the commitments you can keep. Don’t be vague when making them.
13 Extend trust. The other behaviors help you become a trusted leader; this behavior helps you become a “trusting” leader. You should extend trust to those who have earned it. Be willing to extend trust to those who are still earning it. Be wise in extending trust to those who have not exemplified a character worth trusting.
Bottom-line learning: Trust is the new business currency and is an economic priority that drives efficiency and financial results that lead to success in business. The first job of a leader is to inspire trust; the second job of a leader is to extend trust, which turns a manager to a leader.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Bong R. Osorio is a communications consultant of ABS-CBN Corp., SkyCable, Dentsu-Aegis Network, government projects among others, after retiring as vice president and head of the Corporate Communications Division of ABS-CBN.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com