Coffee with the Bros

Oct 12

(If you’d like to watch a video version of today’s episode, you can find it on our Youtube page.)

Sometimes you hear a podcast that’s so good you want to produce your own version of it. This episode finds us reflecting on an Entreleadership podcast with Dr. Henry Cloud. Cloud is a bestselling author, psychologist, and leadership expert. He is best known for his popular book Boundaries. (You can see the video version of the Dr. Cloud interview here.)

Before we get into all of that useful stuff, though, we watch a dude get reckless and almost blow himself up. Yup, it’s another one of Ed Davidson’s videos. We discuss the fact that our own backyards sometimes feel pretty dang close to that video with our s’more-crazy kids. It makes us worry that we might experience something like this KISS cover band lead singer.

The meat of today’s episode is our reflections on Dr. Cloud’s podcast. We run a bit long on this one, but it’s good stuff.

It’s hard to cultivate trust in a business or organization that deals with complex processes and systems. It can seem like someone has a grasp on a process and is ready to meet expectations… Then things can go frustratingly awry.

Five characteristics make up the anatomy of trust (adapted from episode):

#1: Understanding - It’s much easier to give someone trust when we feel understood. Most leaders simply want to persuade the people around them. Persuasion isn’t trust though.

#2: Knowing Intent - It’s important to make your intentions for your teammates genuine.

Protect them when they aren’t in the room.
Want them to win.

#3: Ability - Part of trust is knowing that someone merits it. The right person for the wrong job is the wrong person. Competency matters.

#4: Character - True character is more about the fabric of our being than it is about the outward actions that people see. We’ve said it before: integrity is shown by what you do when nobody is in the room.

#5: Track Record - Humans create mental maps to help us deal with life. Those mental maps are experiences that lead us to expect behavior. If you’re looking for the power of track record, check out the contrasts in loyalty shown to leaders in Band of Brothers.

Our mental mapping leads us to create labels: