Welcome to Episode 81 of my podcast with Marie-Claire Ross talking about ‘trusted to thrive’.

Marie-Claire started her working life as a market research consultant before marrying a video operator and beginning a video production business together. While creating a manual handling safety training programme for a large manufacturing company, Marie-Claire worked with all layers of the business.

During her filming she discovered that those working on the factory floor seemed to have an “us versus them” attitude to management. They even seem displeased to be part of the production. She realised that they felt it was another thing being done to them, not for them. By not consulting with people, Marie-Claire began to appreciate how much trust had been lost and  how important it was to business at all levels. Now, she predominantly works with senior leadership teams and leaders. Particularly when they are not as effective as they could be or not modelling the right behaviours.

Based on her book, she has a ‘Trusted Team Leadership Development Programme’. This helps leaders create a healthy, productive team culture.

How does she recognise the tell-tale signs that the top team aren’t performing?

Employee engagement surveys paint a good picture, but also the behaviours when the top team meet. If they aren’t collaborative, not aligned with the strategy or committed to the outcomes of their meetings, it suggests there are bigger issues. This can make a business feel very ‘stuck’ because projects don’t get completed. Slow processes like this, and not following through are part of the problem. Marie-Claire made the great point that people problems like this become a productivity problem.  That becomes a profit problem.

She feels leaders spend a lot of time concerned with the ‘what’ of the plans they want but not necessarily with the ‘how’ they want.  Therefore, trust is the ability to confidently rely on and achieve the promises people make. If this isn’t present many of us become quite protective and do things that create more issues.

Get your copy of Trusted to Thrive from Amazon.