Excerpted from the book for purpose #1. where David Sammel is one of the 18 business leaders that contributed to the book by sharing their highest value advice.
What Does Trust Mean?
True trust between teammates is rare. Superficial trust is common. The depth of understanding and communication that precipitates an unbreakable bond is underestimated. A high level of empathy and maturity is needed to accept each team member as a whole – warts and all.
It is a decision to believe and know that everyone in the team has the same objective and intent, that everything that anyone does, is done for the good of the team. This means that any mistake is instantly forgiven and the rest of the team will do their utmost to help rectify or mitigate the error.
There is an understanding that attempting to achieve anything significant will come with challenges and often the risks that must be taken in meeting these challenges by default will lead to mistakes.
The quest for a team that intrinsically acts as one is built on experiences that bind people together and take time. This journey is one of the levels, a journey that cannot exist without a clear intention to reach the goal of deep trust. The perseverance to become open and honest about feelings and doubts so that these can be addressed and understood is how the process grows. It is both a painful and glorious journey to explore ways to build a team's psychological strength through forensic examination of the self and how that affect others, so that performance becomes an orchestra of each person's strengths complementing weaknesses, and when it fails there is support and acceptance without a hint of blame, only a determination to improve and 'go again'.
How Can I Build Trust In My Team
I’m going to highlight a live example of a doubles team in tennis on a quest to become the best in the world whose journey is not yet complete but is a wonderful example of how difficult the stages of development are as they climb the levels of teamwork.
This is a case study of a recorded conversation from a time when the team was at a low point and trust was being severely tested after a string of losses.
