Leadership

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• Building Internal Cohesion
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Building Internal Cohesion

Building Internal Cohesion and Trust in a Leadership Team

Internal cohesion should begin with the leadership team. If the leadership team is out of alignment with each other, the whole organisation will be at odds with itself, and cultural entropy will be high.

We have found that the biggest single success factor in building a high performance organisation is creating a cohesive leadership team. We have also found this to be the factor that organisations struggle with the most.  

There are three qualities that stand out from all others associated with internally cohesive leadership teams – a shared vision, shared values, and a culture of trust.

• The shared vision ensures that everyone is heading for the same destination.
• The shared values ensure that everyone is making decisions that send a consistent message to the organisation about what is important.
• The culture of trust is essential. It increases agility and speed in decision-making, and it builds unity in the team. Trust fosters accountability, empowerment, and distributed decision-making, and is fundamental in building strong relationships with all stakeholders.

There are twelve basic conditions that must be met to create a climate of trust. These are shown in the Trust Matrix below.  Teams must master all these components to create a high performing team and a high performing organisation.

Intent

Caring: To look out for the well-being of the organisation and all its employees.
Transparency: To be clear about the motivations that lie behind all decision-making.
Openness: To be accepting and receptive to the ideas and opinions of all employees.

Integrity

Honesty: To be truthful and frank in all interpersonal communications. 
Fairness: To act without bias, discrimination or injustice towards all employees.
Authenticity: To be consistent and sincere in thought, word and action at all times

 Capability

Skills: To accomplish professional tasks with ease, speed and proficiency.
Knowledge: To be very familiar and conversant in a specific topic or professional subject matter.
Experience: To accumulate practical knowledge through personal observation.

 Results

Reputation: To be held in favourable esteem by bosses, peers and subordinates.
Credibility: To consistently articulate ideas in a convincing and believable manner.
Performance: To discharge personal responsibilities with accomplishment and excellence.

¹Developed by Richard Barrett and inspired by the work of Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, Free Press, New York, 2006, pp. 43-58.