Happy February.

To support you in being F.I.R.S.T. (Future-Ready. Innovative. Relevant. Strategic. Trusted.), here's 1 tip, 1 question and 1 quote.

1. The F.I.R.S.T. Tip

‘I’d like to build trust in my team and our organisation though I am not sure how much I can influence things beyond my team.’ The senior manager shared in our coaching session. ‘Currently, we have major trust issues all around.’

Several organisations have low or at best functional trust levels and managers let it ride since they feel they are not able to influence things beyond their own teams.

‘Let’s begin with your team.’ I asked. ‘What will you do to build team trust.’

He was on more sure ground here and we evolved some actions he could take to do so. These were in the areas of personal openness, appreciation and affirmation, giving and receiving feedback, dealing with tough issues, collaboration, and of course leadership and decision-making.

When he was happy with his action plan, we moved on to the wider organisation.

I asked, ‘What are the smallest things that you can change? To build trust across the organisation.’That got him started. Soon he was able to identify a few things which he COULD influence.

And that is the point we wish to make – we often stop ourselves from taking action because we believe we are powerless. However, the fact is that all of us, despite our position in the hierarchy CAN (and should) change and / or control SOME things.

Melinda Gates had a similar experience at Microsoft. In a Fast Company article, she shared:

“When I started, I loved the industry and what we were building, but I didn’t love the corporate culture. So I finally decided to quit. But then I thought, I’ll just try to be myself for a while and see what happens. And I started becoming a lot more successful, I was a manager by then and people were flocking to work in my area. It turned out they were people who wanted to have their voices heard (too).”

Tip: Begin by changing what you can.

2. The F.I.R.S.T. Question

Being hard on the problem and soft on people is an important leadership skill to master.

Many leaders do the reverse and tackle issues by being hard on the person, resulting in demotivating them. This may solve the issue but creates more long-term problems while destroying trust and relationships.

In his seminal book, ‘Boundaries for leaders’ Henry Cloud shares that when leaders create a high accountability culture, along with positive relationships, this keeps everyone feeling supported and moving together towards great results that they all own together.

So the question you may like to ask yourself when you are dealing with a problem - Am I being hard on the issue and soft on the person?

3.The F.I.R.S.T. Quote

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