Be Brave, Be Yourself, and Build Trust Around You

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, workforce management, and culture solutions. Ventana Research recently named UKG a leading supplier in payroll management services. Congrats to them and enjoy the article!)

A few months ago, I shared with you an article about “Turning Your Mistakes into Marvelous Things”. It’s about a very famous tea called Soderblandning that started out as a mistake. Today, I wanted to tell you a story about a different mistake. This one I made … intentionally.

Regular readers of HR Bartender know I’m a planner. So, my annual planner purchase is a pretty big deal for me. This year, I decided to do something completely new and different and purchased a Hobonichi Techo. I’m using it to bring my planning, journaling, and commonplace book into a single place.

When it arrived, I decided to join some online groups to get usage ideas and one of the conversations that kept coming up was “What if I make a mistake? Then it will be ruined, and I’ll have to buy another planner”. I can totally relate to the concept of perfectionism, so I went to a page in the planner, and I deliberately made a mistake on one of the pages. And let me tell you “Whew! I am so glad that’s over.” Now I can focus on moving forward with all the good stuff. 

The reason I’m sharing this story is because sometimes we don’t do things because we’re afraid of making a mistake. It happens on an individual level, within teams, and throughout organizations. Our friends at UKG are hosting an event “Imperfections and All: One on one with Glennon Doyle & Pat Wadors” on Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 1p Eastern. I think it’s going to be a great conversation. 

Glennon Doyle is the author of The New York Times bestseller “Untamed” and host of the podcast “We Can Do Hard Things”.  She is also the founder of Together Rising, an all-women led nonprofit that has raised over $50 million for women, families, and children in crisis. 

And you already know UKG’s CHRO Pat Wadors. I spoke with Pat in Season 2 of The HR Bartender Show talking about change management. If you haven’t listened to the episode, I hope you’ll check it out. 

One of the things I discovered when reviewing the about page on Glennon’s website, was a quote that I like. “The braver we are, the luckier we get.” It reminded me of the mistake stories I shared at the beginning of today’s article.

We need to get brave and not let the fear of mistakes hold us back. But that also means that we need to trust ourselves to navigate the environment we’re in. That’s at every level.

At the organization level, we need to feel like we can be ourselves at work.

Organizations should make honesty and psychological safety a priority and part of the culture. When high levels of psychological safety exist, employees will feel that they can offer honest feedback. And that honest feedback can make the organization better.

Organizations can build trust by regularly conducting employee surveys and focus groups. And employees can build trust by participating in them. 

At the team level, managers and supervisors should encourage employees to be themselves. 

Teams excel when we bring our unique strengths to work. Employees who feel there’s trust within the team will feel comfortable speaking up.

Organizations can offer team building and team development training to new and existing teams. These experiences allow team members to start building trust and learn how to work through problems and deliver feedback.

At the individual level, we need to trust ourselves and send the message that we’re trustworthy.  

We can’t forget ourselves in the trust conversation. As organizations and teams work to build trust, we have to be prepared to participate. In addition, we must demonstrate that we’re trustworthy with the organization and the teams we are a part of. 

I’m looking forward to the unscripted conversation between Pat Wadors and Glennon Doyle on leading with your values and building trust in life, at work, and everywhere in between. It’s free so be sure to sign up. And if you’re already booked that day, sign up anyway so you can get the recording which will be made available on-demand until March 29, 2024.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the event has been pre-certified for SHRM and HRCI professional development credits.

Trust is at the center of business and personal success. We buy from companies we trust. We work with people we trust. And we make personal decisions based on trust. But trust also means being able to say things like “I don’t know.”, “I need help.”, and “I made a mistake.”  These statements don’t label us a failure. I don’t believe that anyone is looking for the people or organizations they interact with to be perfect. I do believe they’re looking for them to be honest. Because that’s what builds trust. 

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