Network Credibility Matters!
06/29/04
John Ellis states a message we all need to hear: "The truth matters. Loyalty matters. Lies matter. Values matter. You know a Dilbert company the minute you walk into it. Dilbert-company employees know the exact calibration of corporate dishonesty. It's what they most dislike. Experience teaches them that politics matters most. So they play along, or they retreat into a kind of sullen invisibility. In the networked world, everyone else knows what the Dilbert employees know. The network really matters, and the most dramatic effect of advanced information technologies is networking. It's not six degrees of freedom anymore. It's exponential connection."
Dishonesty travels fast in a networked world. Trust is the first victim. Instead of soaring on the wings of strategic change, employees settle for mere survival. It's hard for top leaders to realize that whether they like it or not, leaders still must earn the trust of their people before teams will consistently deliver the results they desire. As a country, we recently took time to remember and celebrate the legacy of President Ronald Reagan after his death, but it was not just Ronald Reagan and our military buildup that brought the Soviet Union to an end. One would need to look at a parallel breakdown in their control of information behind the Red Curtain. It was the ready, networked availability of free information via the transporting of VHS tapes and computer files that insured the demise of the communist regime. Once truth was known; truth was spread. Once truth was spread; trust was broken.
Don't discount the value of the grapevine in your organization to empower excellence or to insure mediocrity. When your network is humming with information and stories, what message is being shared? Are your people soaring on hope and trust or are they just going through the motions trying to survive? Trust is too important for leaders to risk losing. Tell the truth. Live the values you preach. Earn and keep the loyalty and trust of your people.
A PAULSON QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Dishonesty travels fast in a networked world. Trust is the first victim. Instead of soaring on the wings of strategic change, employees settle for mere survival." --Terry Paulson, Ph.D.
MONDAY'S MIRTHFUL MOMENT
Dr. Loren Ekroth, www.conversation-matters.com, provides this week's mirthful moment. Enjoy every moment:
1. Two peanuts walk into a bar. One was a salted.
2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."
3. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."
4. Two aerial antennas meet on a roof, fall in love get married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was brilliant.
5. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other:
"Does this taste funny to you?"6. Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar.
One says, "I've lost my electron."
The other says, "Are you sure?"
The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive..."7. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but I couldn't find any.
8. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
When you keep your eyes open for mirth, you just may find it! Hope this kicks off your morning and helps get your mood adjusted for the week. Now, get busy MAKING CHANGE WORK and have some fun along the way!...