It was great to have input from such a seasoned leader today for the Ivy team! Find out more about him here. Here are my notes.

Steve said…

I tend to trust people implicitly. I meet people and start from a place of trust. Others these days have become very sceptical – this is an anxious world where you have to prove you are trustworthy. 

In church with so many volunteers, we only have trust as the currency.

Where it’s High things get done quickly, and it costs us less. 

Low trust – mistrust, suspicious, it’s done very slowly “I wonder if they will…” I micromanage you. That’s costing me energy! 

The Bible says a lot about trust – it says… 

God can be trusted. Why? 

CHARACTER: He’s faithful! exemplary, he cannot lie! 

COMPETENCE: omnipotent – has the power and resources. 

How about assessing people? 

‘David shepherded them with integrity of HEART, with skilful HANDS he led them.‘ Psalm 78:72 

In church, it’s heart first. Character. Intangibles. 

In the business world, it’s hands first. 

What should we look for? Jethro’s advice on leader selection to Moses: Ex 18:21 – Who do you want? Character and capable!

2 Tim 2:2 – Reliable and faithful men – who will be competent to teach others. 

Now as leaders we can develop this instinctive trust judgement. Every time someone mentions a name to me, I put them on a matrix of character and competence. 

We want high character and high competence – then we can go fast. 

Consistency = a trust account. 

But you can blow it in an instant with a breach of trust. 

Yes you can be forgiven, but you’re not back where you were. There’s a caution in people now. It has to be rebuilt. 

Where would you put yourself? And others on your team? 

Proving yourself trustworthy takes time. What feeds into TRUST? 

CHARACTER – Integrity (credibility, congruence, humility authentic, fair) and Intent (hidden agendas, genuine care, transparency) 

COMPETENCE – Capabilities (personal skills, experience) and Results (track record, responsibility, performance). We all have a reputation! Watch out for the reputation of someone others might have to pass on to you about someone, it may or may not be right. 

We plug people into this grid when a name is mentioned. 

We may decide to trust, and then trust develops – over time. There’s a journey. 

Parable of the talents, stewardship principle – Lk 19:17 tells us it starts small, and then can grow.

Trust is tested – as it develops. 

Sometimes people leave church because of these tests – whereby for instance you have to give them feedback for instance, if they show they are teachable they pass the test. 

Every biblical leader had these tests. David fought the lion and bear before the giant. All the boys were invited to the feast with Samuel, but David was only trusted with the sheep. He’s missing out, the youngest – but God saw his heart to serve. 

Later, David could have killed ‘anointed’ Saul in the cave, but instead of that he gets conscience stricken even about cutting his garment 

These are tests – of how much God can trust us. 

Trust gets dented, then afterwards trusting someone again is never about them promising, it’s not about apologising or even forgiving, it’s about what you do – from now on.

We must DO the TRUST BUILDING BEHAVIOURS.

What specific behaviours and attitudes build Trust? 

• Talk straight, speak the truth. Don’t put a spin on it. (If you don’t do this, why not? Fear? Not thinking first?) 
• Show respect. You can see a person’s character by how they treat those who cannot hurt you or help you. 
• Create Transparency. Nothing hidden. WYSIWYG
• Right wrongs. 
• Show loyalty. If you’re suspected eg of not holding confidence, trust is leaking
• Delivering results. Don’t overpromise and under deliver
• Get Better. Let’s do it as best we can and keep learning. 
• Confront reality. We trust those who bring up the elephant in the room with us. Not tiptoe round it. 
• Clarify expectations.  We assume too much. Nail it down before we leave the conversation. 
• Practicing accountability. Rather than shirking it. I am sceptical of paper exercise spiritual oversight. Let me see it! 
• Listen first. Before you speak. Empathy. We are so busy, we come in already busy and ready to bring our side of the conversation. If you listen to the person and the Spirit, you will be trusted. 
• Extend trust. When I trusted you, you trust me. Cyclical. Yes there may have to be boundaries on this of course! 

Stephen Covey Junior’s book = The Speed Of Trust. That’s not just true for business.