April 6, 2021 | Subscribe

THE newsletter helping leaders and organizations put trust at the centre of their work so they can achieve more than they ever thought possible while better adapting to our fast-changing world.

TRUST-CENTERED LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE & PRACTICE:

The Benefit of the Doubt

Want to make it easier for people to give you the benefit of the doubt?

Let people know what you’re doing, how you’re going about it, and why.

Don’t just be transparent only when people ask; consistently practice being purposefully transparent from the outset (what this week’s In Trust podcast guest calls “intentional transparency” - more on that below).

When you practice intentional transparency and make clear your priorities, constraints, actions, assumptions, and intentions from the outset, you build bridges that make it easier for others to understand what you’re doing and enroll them in the process.

When you have done the work to establish that understanding and enrollment and things don’t happen to work out, people are much more likely to trust you when you ask for the opportunity to make it right.

Trust-Centered Leadership Practice for this Week:

Choose one thing where you can practice intentional transparency this week and then practice. Notice and reflect on how you and those you’re being transparent with respond and feel throughout the process. Observe what seems different because of your practice.

We’d love to know how your practice is going and what you’re noticing along the way: simply tag us on social media or use hashtag #TrustCenteredLeadership to keep us posted.

FROM THE IN TRUST PODCAST:

How Intentional Transparency Builds Trust with Gabriel Maldonado

“As I began to trust myself more and become more confident in my own leadership and that I did know what I was doing and when I didn’t, I knew who to ask for help, I think that gave way to us, attempting at least, to try and have a culture of trust, where we trust and are open and honest with each other. I extend that to my board of directors who I have an extremely bidirectional transparent relationship with, and have regular and ongoing communication with our funders, not just telling them about our successes, but giving them progress notes along the way of our challenges.” - Gabriel Maldonado

What’s the difference between being transparent and being intentionally transparent? How can you go about cultivating a culture of intentional transparency with all your stakeholders when transparency is extremely uncomfortable (at least at first)? How does this effort build trust and resilience while reducing red tape and boosting innovation and creativity?

We dove into these questions and more with Gabriel Maldonado (who might be familiar if you watched or listened to our two-part series on Understanding and Addressing Medical Mistrust).

Gabriel is the Founder and CEO of TruEvolution, a community-based organization out of Riverside, California that fights for health equity and racial justice to advance the quality of life and human dignity of LGBTQ+ people. As a former member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS under President Obama, Gabriel works to elevate the representation of minority community-based organizations in state and federal policy priorities. In addition to his work at TruEvolution, Gabriel continues his advocacy serving on regional boards and global organizations in addition to advising industry leaders as an advisory board member for ViiV Healthcare, Janssen Therapeutics, and Merck & Co.

We were grateful to have a chance to reconnect with Gabriel for a candid conversation on the role intentional transparency plays in building trust, culture, organizations, and community. Gabriel was generous in sharing lessons he’s learned along the way in building TruEvolution from the ground up, why his team means so much to him, and how he has evolved as a leader committed to fostering an entrepreneurial, innovative, and creative organization that reflects the personalities and contributions of all involved.

If being transparent has ever made you feel even the tiniest bit uncomfortable or you’re interested in practical ways to build a culture of transparency and trust beyond your organization into your network of stakeholders, then you’ll want to give this conversation with Gabriel a listen!

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

SPOTLIGHTING OTHERS:

TED Radio Hour | Transparency

"I don't think any of us like to admit when we've done something wrong. It can be far more difficult to admit that you've hurt somebody. That's a really difficult component. There's shame. There's guilt that's involved. There's fear. And maybe they have a culture that discourages people from speaking up. I think most hospitals probably do. So there's many layers to overcome to be more transparent. It's far easier to stay in that rut of deny and defend than it is to get out and pull back the curtains and let the sunshine in. This is why people go to lawyers is because they feel that they don't have any other option. People don't hire lawyers because it's an easy or fun thing to do. They do it out of desperation." - Leilani Schweitzer

Being transparent can feel uncomfortable and even risky, but in many circumstances, being more open and honest can change organizations and communities of all types for the better.

This episode of TED Radio Hour explores the edges of transparency with past TED speakers sharing their insights on the subject as it relates to knowing what your colleagues get paid, telling folks what you really think at work, government secrecy, medical errors, and more. It's a fascinating episode that dives into some of the different ways transparency can impact people, organizations, governments, and communities.

LISTEN

Quote To Ponder

“Transparency is not about restoring trust in institutions. Transparency is the politics of managing mistrust.” - Ivan Krastev

THE FUTURE IS TRUST:

Show and Tell: The 5 Facets of Trust

“Trust is the bottom line. Thanks to global leadership consultants Rick and Lisa, you now have the thinking and tools to build trust in yourself, within your team, and for your brand. You can’t afford to miss this book.” - Louise Karch, Bestselling Author of Word Glue

One of the most fun aspects of writing our forthcoming book The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership has been going beyond words and articulating our practical frameworks with visuals.

At the heart of our work is a personalizable framework we call The 5 Facets of Trust. While we do use words in the book to explain this framework in greater detail, we wanted to bring it all together in a single visual. Inspired by a famous album cover (Can you guess which one? The answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.*), this is what we’ve landed on and wanted to share with you before anyone else:

The Five Facets of Trust by Spotlight Trust

What do you think? As always, we welcome your feedback. Simply reply to this email to let us know your thoughts.

Pre-orders for the book will be opening up soon and will include exclusive special offers. For the latest on book launch details, check out book webpage here:

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