Build trust
If you want people to buy in to you as their leader, you need to earn their trust. That can sometimes mean different things to different people.
“People tend to think trust today is to make everybody happy,” McKee says. “We preach here that to have trust is to have a mutual level of respect. Trust starts when you can share your true beliefs and say what you truly think. In our world, we call that creative tension. In a good debate, if you have differing opinions and thoughts, that’s a good thing to share because in that, you will find a better solution. In today’s world, we’re so busy trying to make everybody get along that we fail sometimes to really get to true trust where you can have a debate with trust and honesty.”
McKee poses a hypothetical situation in which an individual at the end of a failed project exclaims that he knew that the problem, which doomed the project, would probably happen.
“And you think, ‘Well, why didn’t they say something?’” McKee says. “Because they didn’t trust the group and they didn’t feel comfortable enough to put that out there.”
You can take a long step toward earning trust by admitting your own faults and weaknesses to your people.
“In my organization, I’m 41, and I’ve learned a little bit about myself,” McKee says. “I run really hard, and I will leave people behind. So what my team has, I tell them they have a two-by-four and any time I’m getting ahead of them, they have permission to whack me in the head, and I can slow down and listen. … When you empower people to help you with your weaknesses, it’s amazing how much better you get when they can help you, and then likewise, you start to learn how to help them.”
Obviously, the discussion of a person’s weaknesses works both ways. The goal of offering your expertise and showing your employees that you’re still learning is to convince employees that success is a team effort and that you need everyone bringing their skills to the table.
“When you find a really good team, when they are together, you might have a hard time finding the leader,” McKee says. “In a great team, everybody is doing their part. While there may be one guy that the ultimate decision comes to, they get so good that they never have to get to the ultimate decision. They work so good that you just get there.
“One of my biggest wins as a leader is seeing Paric people do great things without me and watching Paric people grow. When you start to see that happen and you know you gave people an opportunity or created an opportunity and they took it and ran with it, you get that virtuous cycle of people believing in themselves and making great things happen. It reinforces to you as the leader, ‘Hey, I’m on the right track here.’”
What it really comes down to is taking the time to invest in relationships with your people and teaching them to do the same with your customers.
“Take the time to build those relationships,” McKee says. “We talk with our employees about building one-of-a-kind relationships where we get to know our customer in a way that other people don’t. To truly become a partner, that’s where that starts. To be a partner, you have to earn somebody’s trust. That comes from doing a great job, helping them solve a problem and helping that customer grow and be successful at what they are doing. It comes with being invested in that customer’s vision and what they are trying to deliver on.”
How to reach: Paric Corp., (636) 561-9500 or www.paric.com