Source: Jeremy Bronson, Creative Commons
It’s fall in Ann Arbor. Fall in Ann Arbor means great color, great cool weather with long afternoon shadows and great football. At least it should mean that. Fall football in Ann Arbor has not been fun for the last couple of years but with our new coach, Jim Harbaugh, fall football is fun again. And with this level of excitement, the sports press is getting quotes and interviews everywhere and anywhere they can. One quote the other day really caught my eye.
Tim Drevno is the new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at the University of Michigan. In discussing his offensive line, the guys who do the heavy work in the “trenches” of blocking and in many ways are truly responsible for the success of the offense, Coach Drevno gave the following quote:
As you go through game to game, you get used to everybody and how you communicate and how they handle adversity and get to know one another. That’s part of the process of trusting one another. The quicker you can trust, the quicker you can have success. That’s been a real big part of where we are today. It’s gradual. They get used to your coaching techniques and how you prepare, what you demand from them.
Let’s go to the chalk board and break down that statement:
The quicker you can trust – trusting one another – quicker to success
Yes, you have to know your blocking assignments, the plays you’ll run, you have to be big and strong and quick on your feet… but to succeed quickly you must build TRUST!
As you go through game to game – it’s gradual.
It happens over time, game to game, day in, day out. Building trust takes experience. You have to work on it every day through every assignment. I have experienced in the corporate world that if trust is lost, it takes at least six months of flawless, trust-worthy behavior before people will even give you the benefit of the doubt, let alone fully trust.
Handle adversity and get to know one another
Trust builds during times of adversity. Building trust means working through failure together. It also takes knowing one another. Not knowing what you do but knowing who you are. What are your values? How much heart and stamina do you have? How will you handle adversity?
Without trust there can be no leadership
Build the trust, prepare the individuals and the team, then and only then can you make great demands of their performance and only then will they respond!
Have you taken the time to build trust, grant trust and earn trust? If your goal is to be a great leader then you will need to expect and demand great results. But that only happens when there is great trust!
Take a look at our book “Trust Me” to learn more about becoming a trusted leader.