Using authentic communication to build commitment and trust

A strategy paper by the Leadership Mentoring Institute.
Dr. Jerry Willbur

AThere is a story I like to relate about the old-time coal miners that went deep into the dangerous mines with only a few tools. They had their candle and pick ax of course. Most important for their survival, however, was their canary and their mule. The canary was very sensitive to the toxic gasses that could seep into the mines and if it stopped singing the miner knew he only had a short time to exit the area or correct the situation. The mule was essential for lugging the valuable ore up to the surface. Obviously any sane miner would keep a keen and wary eye on his canary. What about the miner’s mule? The mule could work endlessly in the dark mine and not seem to be having a problem. But the smart miner knew that gradually the mule was going blind from being in the dark underground. He had to drag the balking and squalling mule up to the surface every two weeks or so and into the light. It is said you could hear the mules for miles around protesting the painful but necessary vision saving procedure.

Who are your canaries and blind mules? Are there people who are sensitive to toxic conditions in your organization that have suddenly gone silent? Did you notice? Are there blind mules hard at work deep in your organization doing seemingly valuable work which would balk and squall at going out to see a customer? Have they become blinded to the reality of rapidly changing customer expectations? Extraordinary organizations know how critical these two types of people are to the working atmosphere of the organization. They also know a culture based on authentic communication and relentlessly seeking reality builds commitment and trust. When people sense they are trusted and can trust in return, they will get enthusiastically engaged in helping the organization succeed.

Think about it. We often launch into organizational change efforts without analyzing the foundation of trust we have in our organization. Being authentic or trustworthy is the foundation for building all productive long-term relationships with team members and/or customers. Without a foundation of authenticity or trust there can not be a healthy platform for positive, successful change or open communication. There will be no hope of building the long-term commitment and loyalty that encourages people to get enthusiastically engaged with your organization.

Can you be honest with yourself about this critical question? How authentic is your organization? How would your key employees or customers answer some of these penetrating questions from our Leadership Mentoring Institute Authenticity Index?

This organization:

• Always delivers to customers what it says it will deliver.


• Has always been very truthful to me.


• Keeps its commitments even when it hurts.


• Is very open, honest, and consistent in its communications.


• Demonstrates that it trusts me to be accountable.

Is this focus on trust and commitment really a legitimate cause for concern? A study conducted in 2000 by the Hudson Institute of over 3000 randomly selected employees from various organizations found the following results:

• 56% of employees surveyed said their employers fail to show concern for them.


• 45% said their organizations failed to treat them fairly.


• 41% said they were not trusted on the job.


• As a result only 24% of employees say they are truly loyal to their organizations, with loyalty being defined as expressing commitment to their organization and planning to stay for at least two years.

According to Larry Johnson and Bob Phillips in their book “Absolute Honesty: Building a Corporate Culture that Values Straight Talk and Rewards Integrity” a surprising source of the problem has been an overwhelming concern with being nice. They call this the Kumbaya Syndrome. “People complain that being ‘nice’ often translates into being cooperative rather than confrontational, going along to get along, accepting less than stellar results when accountability is called for, or simply not telling the truth when doing so would either be politically inconvenient or professional suicide.” They go on to quote a person who says: “No matter how stupid or unethical a decision my team or my manager makes, we are all expected to embrace the stupidity, never argue, and start singing Kumbaya.” Do we embrace stupidity in our organization or do we face unblinkingly into the hard hot glare of the truth, and then confront in love?

Another source of this Kumbaya Syndrome can also be the result of the recent fad of 360 degree feedback evaluations. Who wants to offend your future evaluators? Without adequate controls or a healthy environment of trust, this tool can destroy the productive environment it wants to produce. It must be used most carefully and only after an authentic culture of trust has been built.

Telling the truth is almost never easy, but creating a climate of commitment and trust is impossible without it. How do you go about doing this? Utilize the Leadership Mentoring Institute Authenticity Index, or some other tool, and develop a baseline for where your organization is now with your employees and/or customers. Then commit yourself and team to making the following ‘Authenticity Actions’ an integral part of your culture.

• Let everyone know you and your organization are committed to the relentless and systematic pursuit of reality. Rituals and routines are enemies of results. Set up systematic reviews of progress toward clearly communicated goals. Let everyone know fast, unfiltered feedback is the lifeblood of performance improvement.


• Always tell the truth in love. The truth should never be used as a weapon but as a tool to build up the organization and individuals.


• Always keep your word even when it hurts. Pain can be the weakness leaving your organization! Don’t ask people to trust you. Just ask them to watch you very carefully to see if your actions match your words.


• Welcome the truth. Thank the people who call attention to problems but also let them know you expect them to come ready to propose solutions. Whining is not constructive, but constructive and accountable feedback is essential to winning.


• Tackle the problem not the person. Don’t personalize problems. Trust that the other person wants to solve the problem also for the good of the organization. Don’t assume wrong motives, let them prove you wrong.


• Feel free to disagree but then commit to the decision. After letting everyone be heard and the solution finally agreed to, let everyone know they must give their full support to making the best effort to solve the problem. No ‘duck and pointing’ allowed. You win as a team and you lose as a team.

Setting the example with your own authentic leadership and commitment to the above rules is critical. You should roll some of these rules into your organizational values statements. Then don’t just preach it, perform it! You can’t tell people to just trust you and expect it to happen, but you can tell them to watch you very closely and let you earn their trust.

Probably one of the biggest problems with establishing and maintaining such an authentic communications climate is the human tendency to spread rumors. Let everyone know that every rumor and innuendo will be relentlessly tracked down to the source. If you are truly welcoming the truth there should be no need for rumor mongering. Nip the negatives in the bud and find the source. All people have to either play by these open communication rules or else it will quickly go back to the mushroom management style where everyone was kept in the dark and dumped on. Employees need to know they have a vital role to play in keeping everything open and aboveboard.

Extraordinary organizations keep authentic communications flowing because they know it is the key ingredient to further healthy growth. Just as it is true that when you put garbage in, you get garbage out, so it is true that when you put good in, you get good out. You reap what you sow. The communications flow up, down, and across the organization must be constantly monitored, and the channels to the customer must be kept as free of debris as possible. Everyone is committed to keeping the communications authentic.

Do you know who your canaries and potential blind mules are? Do you know how authentic your organization is as viewed by employees and customers? Trust is the only foundation upon which successful change can be built. The answers will dramatically impact your future and your chance to be an extraordinary leader of an extraordinary organization.