A long article however a highly recommended read. Articulated by Mr. Thomas Nies, an entrepreneur, a leader, a visionary, and the longest serving CEO of computer industry, with whom I had the honor of working with. Among many other achievements of Mr. Nies and Cincom, In 2007-2008 Cincom and Mr. Nies were the focus of a Harvard Business School Case Study to be taught in Harvard's MBA Program. Today, thousands of clients around the world rely on Tom Nies and Cincom's four decades of experience to provide innovative solutions to simplify some of their toughest and most complex business problems.
Coming back to the article :-
Overcoming Hidden Agendas in Business
Agendas grow out of motive and intent. So, when motives and intentions are not open and transparent to all involved, "hidden agendas" inevitably develop. These hidden agendas are often buried or disguised within the subtext or context of many situations. This tendency to camouflage motives is especially prevalent in too many complex sales cycles.
"The meeting is at 2 p.m. I'll e-mail you a copy of the agenda, your personal agenda and the hidden agenda."
– Anon
What's Best?
Quite frankly, the agenda that usually inspires the greatest trust, and therefore helps to produce the best results, is the seeking of greatest mutual benefit for all involved. But in such situations, one must genuinely and sincerely want what's best for all. Those who recognize the truth that all life is interdependent realize that they must truly seek to discover solutions that build trust, value, mutual benefit and satisfaction for everyone involved in order to best serve their own self-interests.
"No man can sincerely help another without also helping himself."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Those who become optimally successful try to always act in ways that support their beliefs. The maxim "actions speak louder than words" is profound. It is also true. "Trust is established through action(s)."
Four Factors of Success for Business
In business, success depends on the following four factors:
- Relationships
- Trust
- Execution
- Results
Positive relationship-building fosters and stimulates mutual trust. Mutual trust facilitates the successful actions and executions that deliver the results and values that benefit all. The interlinking of these concepts are expressed in a poster that we display at every location of our company, Cincom, that states:
"Relationships build trust; execution builds results."
This brief maxim seeks to draw attention to the interrelationships and interdependencies among these four success factors.
Relationships
Good relationships do help to build trust; this we all surely know. But, relationships are also built through trust, of trust and upon trust. So, it might also be even more correctly said that, "Trust builds relationships."
Trust
Trust is one of the most powerful forms of both motivation and inspiration. We want to be trusted. We thrive on trust. We respond positively to trust. We perform better when trusted. Trust acts as a type of psychological steroid on human development. And, as we act better, we become better.
Execution
When we are trusted, we do all that we can to behave, act and execute in ways that confirm our appreciation for the trust bestowed on us by another. Our very great desire to not disappoint those who honor us with their trust in us causes us to quite often perform at levels far beyond reasonable expectations, because trust is inevitably tested by results. Whatever our situation or role, we must become very good at establishing, extending and restoring trust as one of the most effective means of generating results.
Results
It cannot be emphasized too strongly that it is the results that truly matter. Trust in economic, and other areas as well, is given, to some degree, in the expectation of results. But, trust is not naive. It insists that whatever it gives must be earned. To maintain trust, one must not just try, one must also deliver the results expected and promised, yet with a high degree of integrity.
Winston Churchill stresses a results-oriented focus that is a way of thinking, of behaving and of acting.
"It's no use saying 'we are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what's necessary."
– Winston Churchill
Jedi Master Yoda says it this way:
"No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."
Actions – Not Activities
This actions/results orientation is quite different from an activity-based approach. Trust demands performance. It is as simple as that. But, performance increases trust. Trust and results are the yin and yang of high achievers. Craig Weatherop, a former CEO of PepsiCo, said this quite emphatically when he stated: "You can't create a high-trust culture unless people perform." Experience everywhere proves the wisdom of Weatherop's observation.
Promises build hope.
Hope encourages trust.
But, ongoing trust demands performance.
Demons of Doubt
No matter how deep or idyllically happy a warm, trusting relationship may be, failures to perform as promised, or deliver the results expected, invites doubt into the situation. And, the perfidious demons of doubt are the abiding and toxic enemies of trust in every relationship.
Drive Downward Spiral
So, where doubt prevails, effort and results will seldom be optimal. And as performance declines, trust will deteriorate further.
This downward spiral eventually destroys relationships. A Harvard professor once emphasized the overriding importance of top-notch expectation in these words: "It is better to have a grade-B strategy and grade-A execution than the other way around."
Character and Commitment
In business, gaining and maintaining trust is essential to winning support. So, everyone involved in such environments must perform very well if the necessary trust is to be achieved and kept. But, in order to so operate, it's also important to understand how trust works. The first such understanding is that trust is gained as a function of both character and commitment that produces the promised or expected results. Most certainly, the character considerations of integrity, ethical standards, honesty, reliability and the other such factors, which combine necessarily together to create what is often called "character," are absolutely foundational and essential.
Competency
However, high moral and ethical character alone is not enough. One also must be competent and capable in the area of interest to be worthy of trust, or to be trustworthy. Competency is built upon such considerations as talent, attitude, skills, knowledge, expertise and other such task-related capabilities.
"Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets."
General George S. Patton, Jr.
(Courtesy of Cliff1066)
During business sales cycles, both of these aspects of the character and trustworthiness are being carefully assessed by the prospect along with the various features, functions, costs and other suitability factors of the offerings, which include quality and expertise, or the competency of the service and support. Objective and subjective analysis of all these factors will typically consider the seller's apparent agenda and behavior, along with the verbalized statements and claims made.
Where's the Proof?
But, since comments and claims may be suspect, prospects need to be assured by behaviors, by references and by personal involvements that a provider can be trusted.
Prospects realize they may become very dependent on the provider. Therefore, they will be placing themselves at risk. Of course, no one wants to be placed at any more risk than the minimum absolutely necessary to gain the result or reward desired. This is why anxieties and emotional fears, doubts and apprehensions rise as prospects reach critical decision points.
Decisions that are not easily and readily reversible, and include risk, always cause apprehensions and anxieties.
Yes and No
Yes! We do want results.
But, no! We do not want to take inordinate risks.
Relationships of Trust
Even if the potential rewards may be very significant, if there are any doubts remaining unresolved, we are all usually reluctant to move into higher-risk situations. Typically, one's ongoing behavior and the cumulative effects and perceptions that their interactions and behaviors have built into relationships of trust are the best ways to gain the confidence and credibility necessary to gain favor.
To best succeed in gaining relationships of trust, one must also operate in ways that seek to achieve the greatest mutual benefit for all involved. But, like promises and assurances, commitments made build only hope; commitments and promises kept is what builds trust. Such trust gained helps to assure the other that whatever the risks, one has a trusted and proven ally to help carry them safely and securely forward to successfully gain the results and values sought. Considering these above ideas as parts of an integrated whole, one better sees and understands that trust, truth, relationships, execution, results, promises kept and value realized are all intimately interrelated and interdependent.
"Promises made must be promises kept."
– Steven M.R. Covey
Stephen M.R. Covey offers good insights on the importance of this maxim in his book, "The Speed of Trust." Covey writes, "In almost any discussion of trust, keeping commitments comes up as the number-one influencing behavior.
Do
In the AMA/HRI study on business ethics, "keeping promises" was ranked as the number-one behavior in creating an ethical culture.
Or Do Not
On the other hand, a survey on leaders for the World Economic Forum identified "not doing what they say" as the number-one trust breaker.
Trust
Gaining and maintaining trust during complex sales cycles is so important that it might quite rightly be considered among the key competencies for value-based sales reps.
Nothing Good
In the words of Jim Burke, a former CEO of Johnson & Johnson, "Nothing good happens without trust."
Happens Without It
Surely this is so in all businesses.
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