Trust and the One Minute Manager is the topic we discuss in this post. We choose this focus to acknowledge the 30th Anniversary of Blanchard and Hershey’s phenomally successful and valuable book, “The One Minute Manager.”
Trust is such a critical issue in every organization today. If you don’t have the trust of the people in your organization, you cannot be an effective leader. Randy Conley “interviews” the “One Minute Manager (OMM)” about the topic of trust.
OMM: Well, I think having trustworthy relationships is the number one priority for leaders, and the three secrets support a leader in achieving that goal.
Randy: I thought the three secrets were techniques for managing people more effectively. Explain to me how they help leaders build trust.
OMM: One aspect of building trust is being competent in your role as a leader, and certainly practicing the three secrets displays your competence. Specifically, the first secret, One Minute Goals, allows leaders to build trust by setting clear performance expectations. People are more apt to trust you as a leader if you’re clear with them on what you expect them to do. Unclear expectations result in miscommunication, wasted energy, and ambiguity, which ultimately leads to mistrust of the leader.
Randy: So tell me how your second secret, One Minute Praisings, helps leaders build trust.
OMM: One of the easiest ways to build trust with others is to catch them doing something right! Recognizing and rewarding good work are key trust-building behaviors. When you take time to praise others, it shows that you value their contributions and you want them to succeed. If you fail to recognize the good work of your people, or even worse, hog the limelight and take credit for their work, you severely damage trust in the relationship. One Minute Praisings communicate care and concern, and when your people see that you care about them as individuals, they trust that you have good intentions toward them….
In his new book, “Be A Trusted Leader: Accelerate Your Influence Now!,” Ed Oakley introduces Five Action Steps for Breakthrough Results.™ The first step is to focus on what’s already working, what’s right. It’s the “catch your people doing something right” that Blanchard and Hershey discuss in their One Minute Praisings.
Having the whole team focusing on what’s working FIRST builds a climate of trust. The entire team supports praising the successes of each other, and trust builds among the team members. Anyone on the team can provide the leadership to start virtually every meeting with this Forward Focused™ discussion.
Randy: It’s amazing to see how One Minute Goals and One Minute Praisings support building trust. The third secret, One Minute Reprimands, seems a little counter-intuitive in regards to building trust. Help me understand.
OMM: On the surface it may seem counter-intuitive, but in reality, a One Minute Reprimand is another way of showing that you care about people and you want to help them succeed. When you give a One Minute Reprimand, you are reprimanding the behavior, not the person, and you’re giving the reprimand because you want to prevent that person from suffering the same mistake again in the future. People trust and respect leaders who give them honest, yet caring feedback about their performance. Leaders that hold themselves and others accountable create a culture of safety, security, and clear boundaries, which acts as a breeding ground for trust. A One Minute Reprimand is honest and caring feedback which is essential to have in a high-trust relationship….More at The One Minute Manager – Three Secrets to Building Trust
The fifth step of Ed Oakley’s Five Action Steps for Breakthrough Results is to focus on “What can you/we do more, better, or differently to move closer to our objective?” Notice how that focuses on solving any problems, closing any gaps, without having to put undo attention on “the problem and who caused it.” What we want, as quickly and effectively as possible, is to get to the solution – not dwell on the problem. This supports even further the building of trust among team members. The One Minute Reprimand accomplishes this by spending only a brief period of time on the issue itself, and coming from a caring place.
Congratulations to Ken and Spencer for their impactful work.
Go HERE for a complimentary copy of “Be A Trusted Leader.”
