Building Trust in Tech Part 1: A Focus on Integrity
Extending trust to others is hard. Getting others to trust you takes work. Though the first step is to trust yourself.
The concept of integrity is the first key piece to being trustworthy to yourself and others. It's the idea of being whole, being one with your own values, with what you speak about and how you act.
The Concepts of Integrity
Congruence
The best way to describe and understand congruence in my own opinion is a quote from Ghandi's secretary about how he was able to bring a hostile audience to a rousing ovation with no notes:
What Gandhi thinks, what he feels, what he says, and what he does are all the same. He does not need notes… You and I, we think one thing, feel another, say a third, and do a fourth, so we need notes and files to keep track.
Over and over again within tech, I see people talk about how they love Test Driven Development and continue to not write tests at all. They galvanize agile while not living into the 14 agile principles and only pick and choose what is convenient. For me, this is the first step in growing oneself and one's team into the core of trust.
Humility
to quote Patrick Lencioni in his concepts of An Ideal Team Player:
The first and most important virtue of an ideal team player is humility. A humble employee is someone who is more concerned with the success of the team than with getting credit for his or her contributions. People who lack humility in a significant way, the ones who demand a disproportionate amount of attention, are dangerous for a team. Having said that, humble team players are not afraid to honestly acknowledge the skills and talents that they bring to the team, though never in a proud or boastful way
While it is important to be congruent with your own values, it's also important to keep an open mind, listen to others, and reflect on them regularly.
Courage
Courage is the first of the human qualities because it is a quality which guarantees all the others.
-- Winston Chirchill
Staying within your own values is one of the hardest parts of being true to yourself. Are you able to work for a place with values that do not align with your own? Are you willing to take the risks associated with standing up for your own beliefs?
Building Integrity
So, how do we focus on this? How do we actually build integrity? Stephen M.R. Covey in his book "The Speed of Trust" laid out 3 concepts which are great guidelines to follow.
1) Make and Keep Commitments to Yourself
How many times have you tried to start an exercise routine? Or a diet? Are you defining goals which are too much to keep up?
Start with the small things: Decide what time you are going to wake up and get up. Read (or listen) to a book every quarter. Commit to connecting with a friend for dinner once a month. The small habits we build and commit to ourselves help build that trust within. Whether you keep them is only known to you.
2) Stand for Something
To believe in something and not to live it, is dishonest.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Deep reflection in identifying your values is a great step towards understanding yourself and what you truly believe in. You cannot live into your values without understanding what they are.
There are many ways to do this which you can search for. A quick one to get you started is provided by Brené Brown on her website.
Think through the practices and processes you believe in within your world of work. Are there practices you should be pushing for more? Are there some you can commit yourself to doing even if it is outside the norm of the team?
3) Be Open
Listen first as people discuss different values of their own and thier own believe, and ask questions wisely. This does not mean immediately believe what you hear, but instead consider things and ask questions.
Conclusion
Integrity is core when it comes to starting the journey of building trust in yourself, and prepping yourself for others to trust you. It's something that I believe we all have to work on every day and reflect on regularly, as no one has truly mastered it.