Building Trust
Teaching Guide Building Trust (DVD Title: Building Trust in a Large Organization) LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE: TEACHING OBJECTIVES: Manager must win the trust • Importance of building trust of over 500 employees in his with people when leading a large team Understandcall center team to motivate ing how to earn the trust them to maximize customer of subordinates who are different than you satisfaction. LEADERSHIP DECISION AND RESULT: Manager ? nds a common ground with people, learns their names, changes his dress, learns about their job, and makes himself visible to win their trust. Importance of knowing your people and their job • Importance of identifying with your people and being visible. Center for Leadership Development and Research Leadership in Focus TEACHING THEMES: • Motivating Teams • Vision, Values and Culture • Taking Charge Building Trust Jim Roth Manager, Dell Background on Company Dell, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and support of various computer systems and services worldwide. Discussion Questions: Have you ever had to build trust with a large number of people who are fundamentally different than you? • As a manager, what are the advantages and disadvantages of seeing yourself as part of a team rather than leading a team? • Do you think Jim will still have the respect of his team if he is so focused on serving them and their needs? • What does Jim mean when he says that a manager should be “conscious of how they ? t into the organization” and “have a sense they are always on stage? ” Background on Leader Jim Roth is a graduate of Northwestern and has a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering.
He worked as a Venture Capitalist, in a software start up, in management consulting and at Dell manages a large tech support team of 500 people. 1 Building Trust | Jim Roth These videos are prepared for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved. Teaching Notes Building Trust (DVD Title: Building Trust in a Large Organization) Center for Leadership Development and Research Leadership in Focus
Video Segment 1: (Run Time: 1 minute 5 seconds) Challenge: Manager must win the trust of over 500 employees in his call center team to motivate them to maximize customer satisfaction. Note: Operations are 24/7 and units are located in Texas and Idaho. This is the ? rst time Jim has managed a large (550 person with 26 managers) group—he felt intimidated. The pressure to reach 90% looming. Dell had prioritized Wall Street ahead of customers— and service suffered—lots of bad press. better results. You think this new manager is too “touchy feely” and will get walked all over.
You want results! Group Work (optional): Assume it is the ? rst day on the job as the new manager of this team. Discuss what you should do. Writing Exercises (optional): Write a message to the managers of your new organization, setting expectations about the team and goals they will be working towards moving forward. Describe your leadership style and approach to the challenge. Make your message motivational. Discussion Questions: • Have you ever had to build trust with a large number of people who are fundamentally different than you? What did you do? What are the advantages of disadvantages of being the boss who is feared? • Do you agree with all the things Jim does to earn the trust of his team? Why or why not? • Do you think Jim will still have the respect of his team if he is so focused on serving them and their needs? Why or why not? Oral Presentations (optional): As the new manager, give an introductory speech to the managers in your organization about you and the goals you hope to achieve. Clearly state the messages you want to convey to your direct reports. Role Play (optional):
Discussion between Manager (Jim) and his Supervisor (Sam) whose leadership philosophy is very different and thinks a manager should be feared by his people. Explain yourself and try to gain your supervisor’s trust. • Background for Manager (Jim): You believe you should think of your team as your customers and make every effort to make their job easier. You do not want to be feared by your people and think you will be even more productive thanks to your leadership style. • Background for Supervisor (Sam): You think the new manager needs to come in strong and put fear in his employees to achieve 2 Building Trust | Jim Roth
Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved. Teaching Notes Building Trust (DVD Title: Building Trust in a Large Organization) Center for Leadership Development and Research Leadership in Focus Video Segment 2: (Run Time: 3 minutes 20 seconds) Decision: Manager ? nds a common ground with people, learns their names, changes his dress, learns about their job, and he makes himself visible to win their trust. Writing Exercises (optional): As the manager, write an email to your employees announcing your new purchase of headsets for all agents.
Discuss how they will be distributed. Will you incentivize the high performers by awarding them with new headsets ? rst? Discussion Questions: • Do you agree with all the things Jim does to earn the trust of his team? Why or why not? • Do you think Jim will still have the respect of his team if he is so focused on serving them and their needs? Why or why not? • Is there anything Jim should do differently and how successful do you think he will be with his approach? • As a manager, what are the advantages and disadvantages of seeing your team as your customers?
Role Play (optional): Discussion between Manager (Jim) and direct report (Fred) who believes everybody needs new headsets and new chairs. • Background for Manager (Jim): You believe you should make your people more comfortable, but you are limited in budget and must make your people and Fred understand there are limits to what you can do for them. • Background for Direct Report (Fred): You think everybody needs new headsets and chairs. You know the new manager is anxious to make a positive impression and you think this purchase could help.
Group Work (optional): What does Jim mean by having an “early victories” when he talks about getting new headsets? What kind of a precedent does this set and how should he manage expectations for the future? 3 Building Trust | Jim Roth Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved. Teaching Notes Building Trust (DVD Title: Building Trust in a Large Organization) Center for Leadership Development and Research Leadership in Focus Video Segment 3 and 4: (Run Time: 2 minutes 10 seconds)
Writing Exercises (optional): As the Manager, write an email to your team telling them how you want them to come to you when they have problems. You want them to understand you are there to help them, but also don’t want them to abuse this privilege. Make the message motivational. Result and Lessons Learned: Manager receives feedback from his people and sees this as a victory that he has earned their trust. To earn trust and improve performance, it is important to learn the details about your people to determine why they come to work everyday.
Discussion Questions: • As a manager, what are the advantages and disadvantages of seeing yourself as part of a team rather than leading a team? • What does Jim mean when he says that a manager should be conscious of “how they ? t into the organization” and “have a sense they are always on stage? ” • What does Jim mean when he says a manager should come across as a “real person? ” • Do you agree or disagree with Jim’s statement when he talks about his subordinates, “They are not beneath you. ” Explain. Group Work (optional):
Discuss the ideal leadership style and image of a manager for a large organization who needs to improve. Oral Presentations (optional): Assume you are talking about of your team. You are in front of 300 of your employees and when you pause, somebody from the audience yells out a quote you said three months ago that is different than what you are saying now. Everybody laughs and starts talking amongst themselves. How do you handle this and what do you say? 4 Building Trust | Jim Roth Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved.
