How trust builds in a new team.
During my recent webinar, ‘The C-Suite Ceiling’, a question came up which was “how do you build trust quickly when you’re the new person walking into an established C-suite?”.
I think the answer is pretty dependent on the team, the individual, and the broader context, however there are some principles to stick to that will make this easy.
Most people have come across Bruce Tuckman’s model of team development at some point: forming, storming, norming, performing. A team forms, works out its differences (storming), settles into how it operates (norming), and eventually hits its stride (performing).
It’s a great model, but it has some limitations. Firstly, the idea of a ‘performing’ team’ is in my view, difficult to quantify. I rarely observe teams that are performing in every way. Secondly, the model suggests a linear process, but teams don’t work like this. They’re constantly thrown into storming by events, perhaps a re-organisation, a tough quarter, a departure, or a new hire.
That doesn’t represent a flaw in the team, it’s just what happens when human beings are involved. If you’re the new addition to a C-suite, you’re not disrupting a stable entity. You’re one of those events, and everyone around you has to recalibrate.
When a new person joins a team, the people around them start asking questions: “What’s going on?”, “How does my role interact with theirs?, “How should I be around this new person?”, “Does this change pose a threat to me, real or perceived?”, “What do their priorities mean for what I focus on?”.
If you’re the new person, it’s tempting to perceive hesitation or caution from your new team mates as a trust problem specific to you. But it’s not usually this. It’s just the team recalibrating its new shape with a new variable in the mix.
Knowing that changes how you approach the team. Instead of trying to prove yourself or forcing trust too quickly, the more effective approach is to observe and listen. Notice how the group operates, how decisions are made, how disagreement is dealt with. This is all important data.
Once you’ve noticed something, the next challenge is to ask some curious questions in a non-judgemental way. A blunt “why is turnover so high in your area?” could be perceived as an attack. Changing this to something like “I’ve been looking at where we’re seeing turnover across the business, I’m seeing some in your area, and I’d like to understand what’s going on”, lands completely differently. The observation is the same, but it’s a very different conversation.
You’re essentially saying what you’ve noticed, keeping it about the business rather than the individual, and then asking a curious question. It turns a potentially defensive conversation into a collaborative one. This builds trust quickly. Have a look at our OI-3C framework for more on how you can have these types of conversations safely.
If you’re stepping into a new team, at C-suite level or otherwise, expect storming. It’s not a sign you’re doing anything wrong, or that the team is dysfunctional. Go in curious, stay in listening mode, and use observation rather than judgement to open harder conversations.
Trust still has to be earned, but you’ll get there faster by working with the process than by trying to bypass it.
If you missed the live webinar, ‘The C-Suite Ceiling’ is now available to watch on demand.
