Simon Sinek worked with the Navy Seals who are the top of the pops when it comes to high-functioning teams and asked them how they determined who got to be in the Navy Seals 6 which was the absolute best of the best at the time – they have a new name now but that’s not the point of this story....
What does this actually mean? Using Sinek’s explanation, he defines performance as "trust them with your life" while trust is defined as "trust them with your money and wife". While everyone would love to have a team of people who are high performance and high trust, they are notoriously difficult to find. However, high performance (HP) and low trust (LT) people are extremely easy to find but you should beware because typically a HP, LT person is a "toxic leader and a toxic team member". However, a medium or low performance person with high trust could be the "best gifted natural leader who's creating an environment for everybody else to succeed".
He’s not suggesting that all high performers are toxic, just those that are perceived to be untrustworthy. The discussion with Seal 6 team showed that the most elite organisation in the world would rather bring a medium or low performance person with high trust onto their team, every single time, than a high performer, low trust person.
For those who have worked with HR Staff n’ Stuff when managing a difficult situation, you are likely to have heard us say “the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept”. As a leader, you need to know that just because someone is deemed to be your best performer, if they come with toxic behaviours that create a low trust environment, they will ultimately be doing more harm than good. You need to be proactive so that you don’t allow toxicity to flourish in your business.
On the flip side, the high performer that comes with high trust is your absolute ideal employee as they build a culture that is cohesive and is focused on the success and development of everyone and not just themselves. This is the team that is most likely to deliver long term, consistent results for your business as opposed to the untrustworthy diva who scorches the earth in their attempt to position themselves as the star of the show.
As Sinek highlights in his talk, most businesses make the mistake of rewarding or promoting the high performer who is also perpetrating damage on the rest of the team. We see the exceptional sales results, the amazing craftsmanship in the product they produce or the amazing marketing campaign. We do this because these are the metrics we have set to measure success in the business. NO business has metrics for behaviour or trust – but perhaps we should? Sinek suggests that we need to look beyond the flashy results and look to identify the person who is delivering what your business needs for the long term and who is “creating an environment for everybody to succeed.”
Why are talking about this? Because we want to highlight that it’s not always the obvious person who should be rewarded with promotion or placed in a position of leadership. The best person at their craft is not necessarily the best leader of others.
We are talking about the importance of trust in the workplace because it’s critical that we consider the less visible skills and attributes that are valuable to the overall success of our companies. And we want to highlight that sometimes the employee with the more readily observed skills might not be the best choice to lead a team as they may not develop a climate that will ultimately lead to your business having a whole team of high performers instead of just one.
If you are keen to see the Simon Sinek talk on this subject, click here. Of course, you can contact HR Staff n’ Stuff if you require help in better assessing and understanding the talent in your business and how you can restructure your teams and develop your key employees so you can bring the best out in them while building a successful and sustainable business.
Image Source: The Infinite Game
