Football and Business: Building Trust In The Workplace

Building trust in the workplace is essential in business today.  So what do you do when business is promised, but the contract is juuuust not signed yet?

NFL players during this lockout period are facing this dilemma and so am I.  Speeches and training opportunities are coming in at a faster clip these days—better than the last 2 years, but the money is not actually IN THE MAILBOX. . .so do you buy a new suit, anticipating the need to wear it?  As a football player, do you relax with the family, or spend long hours in the gym, sweating your guts out, anticipating the need to be in great shape when training camp (hopefully) begins?

Well, they are doing a little of both, and so am I.  I bought a new BLOUSE—not the suit.  I’m taking time to catch up on my movies, but I’m still marketing—on my website, on the phone, at networking meetings. The NFL players are engaging in unofficial team exercises to keep in shape, but it’s not the OTAs (Organized Team Activities) that usually happen this time of year.  What do I do to keep in shape (besides go to the gym)?

Unlike the football players, I need to keep my mind stimulated as well as my body. So I write a new speech of course and a new powerpoint to go with it!  It IS for a client and a paid program, but it MOTIVATES and EXCITES ME as well.  And that’s really my job, paid or not.  I am a motivator, so I need to stay motivated!  The speech is based on an article I wrote for a magazine P.R. submission.  I never did find out if the article was ever published, but I did a whole hour-long interview on the subject for a radio show.  It’s on the subject of TRUST in the workplace—employees need to trust their leaders.

This is more important than ever before, because we have fewer people, and we need to maximize the potential of each to retain our best players. This is essential for a return on our investment and for the stability of the organization.

Trust is a function of character and competence.  There are action steps to being a trustworthy leader.  And it’s a two-way street.  There are ways employees can build or rebuild trust with your boss.  Some highlights:

–Be clear and focused about your expectations of your people; if you are one of the “people,” you must make the effort to get clear.  Focus is the difference between playing and playing to win.

–Leaders must have the ability to listen, sense and respond.  Employees can be proactive by “modeling” the very behaviors you want from the boss!

Cool, eh?

See more lessons from Football and Business in my book, Necessary Roughness, by getting the first chapter for free!  Just put your name and email in the box to the right…AND get updates and more MimiMoments!