Leaders Build Trust by Delivering Results

The Second Wave: Relationship Trust

Building the Wave of Relationship Trust requires deliberate trust-building behaviors.

For the last several posts, we have been looking at character-based behaviors. This week we move on to the five competence-based behaviors–delivering results, getting better, confronting reality, clarifying expectations, and staying accountable. As with the character-based behaviors, we’ll also explore the “counterfeit” versions of the competence-based behaviors. A counterfeit behavior is one that looks like the trust-building behavior, but instead of building trust, this behavior is distorted into something that tears trust down.

This week: Deliver Results

Establish a productive track record. Get prioritized work done. Make things happen; consider whether what you’re doing is more “activity” than “results.” Accomplish the tasks expected of you. Be on time and within budget. Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Additionally, don’t make excuses for not delivering.

The opposite of Delivering Results is failing to deliver. Whereas failing to deliver can be rare, a common “counterfeit” version of this behavior is delivering activities instead of results. Doing busywork or the more enjoyable parts of the job without accomplishing real work. Overpromising then falling short on delivery.

Is this activity or is this producing results?

That’s a question I ask myself when I think things like, “I’m just spinning my wheels here,” or “I didn’t get squat done today.” It’s easy to feel productive when you stay busy, but when other team members ask me, “What did you get done today?” I want to have a results-oriented answer.

At Group Dynamic, we have a prioritization system which helps us focus on results rather than activity. For more information, click on the link. Quickly, though, I’ll tell you two questions in our system:

  1. Is there a deliverable on my to-do list a client expects or needs from me?
  2. Is there a deliverable on my to-do list that my boss or others on the team expect or need from me?

There are a lot of activities which deliver long-term results, like improving our processes or revamping out marketing approach. Whereas these may be important, we need to make sure those top two priorities are covered first.

What to do instead?

Say things like this:

  • What specific results do I need to deliver? By when?
  • How will we measure success?
  • What will be the impact of these results?
  • By the deadline, I commit to deliver…
  • This is what we promised, and it beats the budget.
  • We’ve finished. Is this what you expected? Why or why not?
  • We need to do whatever it takes to get these outcomes.
  • Which of these objectives is important?

Make sure you aren’t getting mired down in activity. Deliver Results to build trust.

Next week: Get Better.

Thanks for reading,

Alan Feirer

See more blog posts on The Speed of Trust.

#1: Leaders Invest in Trust
#2: Credibility Gaps: Leaders Know the Waves of Trust
#3: Behavior, Credibility, and the Wrong Kinds of Trust
#4: Leaders Know Credibility is Driven by Behavior
#5: Build Trust by Talking Straight
#6: Leaders Build Trust by Demonstrating Respect
#7: Leaders Build Trust by Creating Transparency
#8: Leaders Build Trust by Righting Wrongs
#9: Leaders Build Trust by Showing Loyalty

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