Know / Like / Trust

 

When we hear this phrase in the business world, it is usually associated with sales. We all prefer to do business with people we Know/Like/Trust.

 

XM Truth: We also do our best work for leaders we Know/Like/Trust.

 

Through November to January, we are frequently engaged in the Strategic Planning process with our clients. We begin each session with a simple connecting exercise. Selfishly, we need to know the leaders we will be working with for the next 7-8 hours. It is shocking how often we find leaders in an organization, who spend 40-60 hours per week together, and how little they know about each other.

 

Try this at your next team meeting: Start the session by introducing a set of questions that will reveal something you didn’t know about them.

 

Option 1: Hometown? Number of Siblings? Something that shaped you in your youth?

 

Option 2: First album you ever bought with your own money? First concert you paid for?

 

Option 3: Favorite Thanksgiving family traditions (or any upcoming holiday)?

 

Knowing our close teammates and collaborators on a deeper level helps us to connect and feel safe around them, which accelerates engagement. Like Steven R. Covey said, “When TRUST goes up, SPEED goes up, and COSTS go down.”