Creating a culture of trust: virtues and values

by | Jul 21, 2011 | Trusted advisorship

This post comes from our upcoming book, The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Leading With Trust, from the chapter on Implementing a Culture of Trust. Tools for trust initiatives include principles, or values, at the organizational level, and personal attributes, or virtues, at the individual level. The chapter explores five tools for implementing trust change initiatives: leading by example, stories, vocabulary, and managing with wisdom. This post explores two diagnostic tools: the Trust Temperament™ and the Trust Roadmap™.

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Real people, real trust: a CEO you should know

by | May 23, 2011 | Real people, Trusted advisorship

Chip Grizzard(@chipgrizzard) is the CEO of Grizzard Communications Group, a nonprofit marketing and fundraising agency. Chip is the fourth-generation member of the Grizzard family to work at the 91-year-old company. Discover Chip’s candid replies to questions about what it really takes to be a Trusted Advisor and how to create a company that leads with trust, every day.

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The Fastest Way To Trust: Laughter

by | May 4, 2011 | Improvisation

This post was written by Shawn Westfall, Improv Guru.

Begin with the End in Mind: A Post Mortem (and a Drink)

One of the “traditions” I’ve established during my eight-year history of teaching beginning improvisational comedy classes at the DC Improv is what I call “the-after-the-class-drinks-and-post-mortem”: everyone of drinking age retires to a local pub to share their experiences of the class. Approximately 17 people squeeze into a medium-sized booth at a local Irish pub to hoist their potable preferences, where I then invite their class critiques. Hey, it’s better than some formalized written class critique. Plus, there’s booze.
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To tell or not to tell: the Three-Question Transparency Test

by | Feb 16, 2011 | Client relationships

We’ve all had those moments when we realized we knew something that someone else didn’t know and it was awkward. Think of the last time you were at lunch and you noticed your tablemate’s big, toothy grin adorned by a piece of big, leafy spinach—yep, that’s the kind of awkward we’re talking about. Even though most of us probably ascribe to a principle of Transparency—being honest, open, candid except when illegal or injurious to others—we’ve all made the choice at some point to say nothing.

The question is: did we do the right thing?

Use the Three Question Transparency Test to find out.

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Accelerating trust: woo woo before you do do (Part I)

by | Dec 13, 2010 | Trusted advisorship

When I lead our Being a Trusted Advisor and Trust-Based Selling programs, I ask participants early on what’s the “one big thing” they want to get out of their participation. Invariably, at least a quarter of people in the room will say something along the lines of “tools for accelerating trust-building.” And those who don’t say it usually vigorously nod their heads in agreement.

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Leaping from the Live to the Virtual Classroom: Facilitation Tips that Engage and Energize Virtual Audiences

by | Nov 15, 2010 | Improvisation

This post was written by Susan Silver Levy, Executive Consultant.

It’s now 30 minutes into your web-based seminar. . . Do you know where your participants are?I suspect some are checking email, others are finishing important client work, and yet others are surfing social networks.

Online participants can be notorious multi-taskers. However, good virtual facilitators can create a learning atmosphere—one so engaging—that participants will forget about Outlook, client memos, and LinkedIn.

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