Trust Story: A Senior Leader Trusted Enough to Create Change

People Can Change--They Need Encouragement Along the Way

In helping or consulting roles, trust is the cornerstone of your ability to assist people or organizations in making desired changes. Think about it:

• They need to trust that the changes will be so beneficial to their situation that it's worth their while to implement them.

• They need to trust that they are capable of changing.

• They must trust that their employees can make good decisions and take appropriate actions without constant supervision.

• They need to trust that the employees they empower to help them make changes and take on new roles will actually improve the bottom line or the work environment—not just exercise employee involvement.

• They need to trust that you have the skills and experience to guide them in making the right changes.

If this sounds like a lot of trust, you’re right. Let me share a true story to illustrate.

From Top-Down Management to Employee Empowerment

Jim, the president of a manufacturing company, was inspired by the concept of employee empowerment at a management conference. When I first visited his company, his office was on a second-floor mezzanine.

Every day, a line of employees stretched down the stairs and into the first-floor hallway, waiting for his input—a clear sign of top-down management.

The line vanished once we provided his employees with the necessary training, tools, time, and permission to make decisions. Jim also established clear guidelines on what required his attention versus what employees could decide independently. The process worked.

As with any change, we experienced our fair share of ups and downs. Senior team members hesitated to trust the new direction and often waited for guidance. This was understandable, given their past experiences with Jim’s leadership. Interestingly, plant employees generally trusted and implemented the new requirements quickly.

Of course, there were hiccups along the way. After several weeks, I arrived at the plant one day to find a group of employees gathered outside Jim’s mezzanine office. I admit, my heart sank. During our meeting that day, Jim asked me a question that many senior leaders have but rarely voice.

He said, “I understand that the employees need to change and that I need to empower them to do so. But why can't I just tell them to change? Why do I have to change, too?” We laughed as he finished speaking, but that moment marked a turning point.

He realized why his senior team was the slowest to trust change. He grasped what many leaders miss: Change begins with them. If leaders don’t model and embrace change, expecting everyone else to trust and commit to it is unrealistic.

Later, Jim told me he felt isolated and lonely in his mezzanine office and moved downstairs closer to the plant entrance to interact more with his team. This made him more visible and approachable, and employees began to stop by for casual conversations or to seek his opinion on various issues.

He also found that he had much less to do once he trusted his employees. He expanded his knowledge to focus on improvements within his company and several other companies. He also served on several boards of directors, where his experience was integral to their success.

I don’t know the end of the trust story or if it endured, but I do know he eventually sold his successful company for millions. His employees went on to contribute effectively in numerous roles in other companies.

How do I know? They friended me for years on Facebook and LinkedIn. Jim later retired to his Florida dream, where he ran golf tournaments and served on company and community boards in his spare time.