Trust is a necessary requirement for any relationship to survive and to thrive. Unlike other traits in relationships, say communication, trust is a perception of one person. Communication requires at least two people to engage in conversation, regardless of the medium. Trust, however, is a one-way characteristic relying on the view that the trustor holds…

Leaders need trust from their teams to accomplish big, strategic goals that are high risk. As we’ve discovered, leaders cannot demand teams trust them. In fact, demands will backfire and erode trust fast! Rather, an effective and purpose-filled leader will ask, “How can I demonstrate trust within my team?” Top leaders recognize the ripple effect…

This month, we’re starting a deep dive into trust. Without trust and psychological safety, workplaces falter, creativity disappears, and profitability suffers. A few years ago, I worked with a company in the household appliance division of a large consumer conglomerate. Even after identifying trust as the number one issue for growth, management doubled down on…

Last week, we began a series of posts on the traditional creativity methodology called Design Thinking. Though many professors have enhanced the design thinking process, I prefer a simplified model. Keeping design thinking simple with just two steps makes it easily applicable to every business, including small businesses and entrepreneurs testing out new ideas. Last…

Over the past years, I’ve learned that many organizations make the same mistake. It doesn’t matter if the are a $600M revenue-generating department within a huge, multinational conglomerate or a one-person local shop. I’ve also learned that mistakes cost time, money, and brand reputation. What is this giant mistake? Forgetting the customer. In large companies,…

Trust in relationships involves two people: a trustor (one who is giving trust) and a trustee (the one being trusted). Many studies indicate that we consider ourselves to be more trustworthy than the people who we ask to trust us. In other words, we think we are reliable while other don’t. Reliability is based on…

Honesty is the first and most important ingredient in trust. If we question the truthfulness of another person, we question their motives and intents. Someone who habitually tells lies has questionable character. Deceit – except for a surprise party – is usually rooted in selfish desires, ultimately eroding trust. We tend to trust people who…

I recently had the opportunity to moderate a couple of roundtable discussions on hybrid teams. The question was centered on alignment and engagement of team members. Everyone on the virtual conference was associated with project management in one way or another – technical, managers, leaders, and creators shared their views to increase engagement on hybrid…

I’ve been working in the field of innovation most of my career. All of it, if you count technical research (working on a doctorate degree) as part of innovation. Innovation stretches from generating a new idea; testing it; scaling it for production, manufacturing, commercialization, and marketing. The ideas isn’t what makes an innovation successful and…