Page 185 - Fearless Leadership

172 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

person, and take accountability for your impact. Remember
that the emphasis is on opening the conversation and listening
for positive intention. By listening carefully to the other person,
you will discover where you need to clean the slate so you can
build a committed partnership.
3. Initiate a discussion about the circle of trust with an
individual or your team. A genuine conversation about trust
requires a safe environment. You must have the courage to
listen without reacting or judging. Your outcome is to expand
the circle of trust for the partnership or team. This will not
work if you are not authentic and not willing to suspend your
judgment. People withhold and are not emotionally honest
when the environment is unsafe. If this is the case, do not put
people on the spot; do this activity privately with an individual
instead of a team.
Using the three circles of trust in Exhibit 6-1, follow the steps below:
• State where you believe you are in the group’s circle of trust.
First, talk about the group as a whole and where you believe
you are in their circle of trust. Next, if the environment is
conducive, talk about where you believe you are in each
individual’s circle of trust.
• Ask the other person or team to share where they believe they
are in your circle of trust. Listen, and acknowledge their will-
ingness to begin the process of building a committed partner-
ship. Use this opportunity to learn how you impact others.
• If you are ready, and others are willing, find out where you
need to take accountability for your impact and clean the
slate. Trust, or the lack of trust, must be honestly addressed
for a team to move to a new level of performance.

Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803–1882)