Читать книгу Stepping Forward Together: Creating Trust and Commitment in the Workplace - Mac Ph.D. McIntire - Страница 4

Now more than ever, organizations require collaboration in order to succeed. The complexities of technology, increased competition, and global interdependence have created a work environment that requires people to work well together to achieve common goals.

Unfortunately, the conditions that characterize today’s work environment – faster, cheaper, geographic dispersion, competition for scarce resources, downsizing, mergers and acquisitions – also create conditions that contribute to mistrust and a feeling of betrayal. All of the downsizing and decreases in employee benefits have led people to feel they can no longer rely upon their organizations for support. Consequently, employees today are much more hesitant to make a commitment to work hard or to go the extra mile when there is no perceived reciprocal loyalty from their employers.

The consequences of current business decisions (no matter how necessary), make the reestablishment of trust and commitment in the workplace an imperative. Trust is an essential ingredient for improving productivity and maintaining stability during turbulent times. In high trust environments, people are more willing to keep agreements, share information, admit mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and take on greater responsibility. They are more committed to and aligned with the organization’s business objectives and vision. By creating work environments where trust flourishes, leaders can dramatically improve morale, productivity and profitability.

This book tells how to establish that trust, plus commitment, in the workplace. It offers a step-by step guide for how to get people to “step forward together” as a team by using a powerful tool, called the Ladder of Commitment®. The Ladder of Commitment explains the internal process people go through in order to commit to a specific course of action. It shows how to effectively move people out of their comfort zones (what I called a “closed” response), and get them to be “open” and receptive to new ideas or changes. It describes the “seven things that matter most” in a relationship – both professionally and personally – that must be addressed in order to develop mutual and reciprocal trust, respect, confidence and support. It describes how to create a work environment where management and employees believe one another to the point where they will fully commit to work together to achieve common goals. It describes how to get a group of people to go in the same direction at the same time and do the right things right for the right reasons.

Although this book is primarily geared toward work teams, the commitment model also can be used to get couples, families, church groups, clubs, organizations, neighborhoods and communities to also step forward together as a team. The principles learned can be applied in any situation where two or more people need to work together to achieve the same goals.

The precepts outlined in this book are not based on scholarly research or analytical data. I’ve conducted no in-depth surveys or held numberless interviews with effective managers or productive work teams to discern why they are successful. Instead, the ideas in this book are based on years of personal observations, testing of my own theories, trial and error, and practical application in my own company and personal life. I’ve proven that these ideas work!

You may be surprised, or pleased, to discover you already know the basic truths I’m about to share with you. Consciously or subconsciously, you, too, have been collecting data on what you can do, or should not do, in order to build relationships of trust and commitment. This book provides you with a conscious means to apply your data. Step by step, it will show you how to accelerate the process of building committed partnerships early in any relationship. As a result of what you learn, you can become a much better manager, employee, husband, wife, partner, father, mother or whatever role you find yourself in.

This is not a book to be read quickly and then put on the shelf. To build trusting relationships, you may need to change some of your behaviors. Therefore, I encourage you to stop frequently as you read to ponder the points presented. Reflect upon your own situations and assess how these precepts apply to you. Go inside yourself to gain introspective understanding of your strengths, as well as your opportunities for improvement. Identify what you can do differently to strengthen your interpersonal relationships. Also, note how you might be able to help others to better interact with you.

I promise that, as you climb the Ladder of Commitment in your professional and personal relationships, you will find yourself stepping forward together with the people who matter most in your life. More important, you will become more successful in all that you do.