Trust is one of those concepts that you don’t even think about when you have it, but when it’s compromised, you pay a lot of attention to it! In our coalition work, there can be trust issues within the coalition overall or there can be trust issues between specific members of the coalition that impact the ability to work together. While you cannot control other people and what they say or do (yes, I know this may come as a shock…:), as a coalition leader, you do have influence on trust. Join me this week as I highlight four things that will lead to loss of trust in your coalition.
Under communicating.
One of the easiest ways to lose trust in coalition work is to “under communicate”. If there has been a long time in between meetings and only a few people know what is happening, the risk of “under communicating” is high. Also, if someone asks you a question that you cannot quickly answer, and you wait to respond until you have the answer or have time to get through all your emails (oh the email backlog!), you risk losing trust. You want to find the balance of keeping your coalition updated on what is most important to them without overwhelming them with constant communication. If you have made commitments to your coalition and you are unable to follow-through or something has changed, let them know. Lack of communication = Loss of trust.
Avoiding difficult conversations.
If a situation occurs that may be confusing or controversial, the best way to lose trust is to avoid talking about it. Even though it may be initially uncomfortable, providing a safe forum for your members to discuss, ask questions, disagree agreeably and hear the complete story will support trust and future engagement. Difficult conversations do not always have to be difficult. One of the best ways to encourage trust in a difficult conversation is to acknowledge that there may be different perspectives and that you want to provide an opportunity for questions and open discussion.
Letting the loudest voice win.
In every coalition, you want passionate champions who can provide leadership, inspiration and energy to accomplish your collective goals. Sometimes, these passionate champions can be very loud and insistent on their way. When “their way” diminishes other coalition members or is not aligned with the coalition’s collective perspective, this can be problematic and lead to trust issues. As a coalition leader, you are responsible for setting clear expectations and boundaries with all your members on what is ok and what is not ok. (If you want to read more about this, I highly recommend Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown – pages 128-130). When you let the loudest voice win, the rest of the coalition may not feel like their voice is valued. Alternatively, when you acknowledge the “loudest voice” and provide opportunities for other “voices” to be heard, you support trust.
Supporting specific organizational agendas.
In order to attract organizations to be part of a coalition, there need to be clear benefits for each organization to participate. However, If specific organizations are allowed to promote their agenda over the coalition’s collective agenda, trust will be lost. Based on coalition priorities, specific organizations will naturally provide leadership for specific areas; however, there need to be opportunities for other individuals and organizations to actively participate and engage in the collective efforts in order to maintain trust.
So what about you? Which of these four areas may be impacting trust in your coalition right now?
If you would like more support for your coalition in building trust and addressing other challenges you may be facing, check out my free worksheet, 10 Partnership Pitfalls for practical actions you can take right away!
Photo by Stephen Harlan on Unsplash
