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The Special Education Leadership Team (SPELT) has one of the strongest bonds of trust I have ever worked with. It can be difficult to develop and maintain trust the more people are added to a team, but with the 5 of us we have been able to demonstrate the 5 elements of trust noted in von Frank’s article (benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, competency) consistently in our team’s duration. This level of trust is essential to a leadership team; without it we would not be able to be effective resources to administrators and staff. Our team is not only open and honest with each other but we portray that when we are working with other departments and schools. For example, we don’t always have the answers but we will be resourceful and collaborate with anyone in order to derive at an answer. The strongest element for me personally is probably reliability. I want my team to know that they can count on me and if they need support I am there to provide it. I try to ensure that I do what I say I am going to do or what is asked of me (other than finishing online modules). This helps a team function more efficiently by being able to focus on system change elements and not spending team time and energy on minute details. Competency is a big one as well, but I can’t say that competency has been my strongest asset lately when I'm trying to juggle everything! 😉
Marcy Gruver

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Response to Cathy's response to Brandi's response to Benevolence (hehe)

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Response to Cathy's response to Brandi's response to Benevolence (hehe)

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I absolutely agree that praising the strengths of a teacher (or student or administrator for that matter) is an excellent way to rebuild trust.  I would like to add that stating methods of improvement in a positive way is also helpful.  I have been in situations where new teachers were struggling with class management.  Suggestions for improvements were needed in addition to positive comments on strengths.  I think that if teachers know you are coming from a place where you want them to succeed and can tell them small things to improve, they will take those many small steps and eventually make giant leaps to greatness.
Robert Korsan

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The element of reliability really resonated with me while reading von Frank’s article.  I believe it’s critical to be dependable and consistent.  I have worked for, and with, leaders who talk a good talk, but don’t follow through by actually doing what they said they would.  I believe actions often speak louder than words and when administrators do what they say they are going to do, it sends a powerful message to teachers that the leadership can be counted on to follow through.

-Lisa Yankanich

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I was interested in the thoughts on competence.  I agree that ability to get the job done is critical to trust, but I think that there is also a component of willingness not addressed in the article that affects trust.  I've seen long-lasting divisions and strain between teachers because one didn't believe the other was working hard on behalf of the students.  She believed he had the ability, and resented him for not carrying his share of the load.  I personally have lost the trust of some of the counselors in our county because I have the ability to create and implement remedial math courses but I will not do it because of the negative impact (that I have clearly failed to communicate to them) such courses have on equity
-Joe Sutton

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You reminded me of a principal I had years ago. She always used to say, "teamwork makes the dream work." The problem with her saying this was that she was never a team player. She always wanted wanted you to know who was in charge and was unwilling to allow teachers to step up as leaders in the school. I definitely agree that actions speak louder than words.
Robert Korsan

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I was surprised that the word genuine did not appear in the article or video.  I agree with the five facets described by the author, however I would argue that being genuine in your actions, intentions and words is just as important as any of the five listed.  The closest link would be the honesty/openness facets.  Brian K.

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Charles County schools launched a system wide Choose Kind campaign.  This campaign connects with the benevolence facet of trust and lends itself to the many dynamics of relationships within a school (student-student, teacher-student, teacher-teacher, admin-teacher, teacher-parent, parent-admin, etc).  The article focuses on how school leaders build trust with teacher and a bit about building trust with students.  Ideally, as school leaders develop and model the facets of trust with students and teachers those groups will then develop and model the facets with one another and the community.
Brian K,

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I think we've all experienced difficulty accomplishing everything that others expect of us in leadership roles.  We go through periods of frustration, where we can't keep up with the demands.  I think that, having all been through those times together, you've developed bonds of camaraderie.  You've been 'in the trenches' together, and know that the appearance of incompetence is a function of a period of impossible demands, as  evidenced by the personal competence and effort you've consistently displayed along the way.
-Joe Sutton

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Agreed that leaders that don't follow through or only recite empty team mantras suffer in their staff's perception of reliability. I would add that these actions also indicate a lack of genuine action/intent/words. It's one thing to be unreliable or coy about your degree of reliability, it's another to claim to be reliable and then not follow through.

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You make a great connection between the element of benevolence and gaining trust with challenging staff members.  The example you provided made me think about a similar situation I had with a resistant teacher last year as a new administrator in the building.  I spent a little extra time getting to know her, making personal and professional connections, and we came to a point of mutual respect working towards common goals.  She actually became one of the teachers I knew I cold count on to help initiate changes.

-Lisa Yankanich

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It's interesting that Charles has this initiative.  I wonder if there is any intent to measure the impact of this kindness campaign.  I think that benevolence is something that I have- however, I find that not all teachers trust this.  One thing I've done consistently in my five years in this position is sharing performance data with teachers.  It's one of my goals to share accomplishments and points of potential growth with my teachers that they may not have known about.  I do it because I think they need to both celebrate success and have a sense of urgency to improve their instructional practice.  No one has ever gotten "into trouble" for data, and I spend a good deal of these meetings balancing out the teachers' harsh self-critique, but the oversight itself puts teachers on edge: I have routinely not exploited their vulnerability, as the article says, but there is still a degree of separation in which my teachers share things with my specialists that they won't share with me out of fear of some kind of repercussion.
-Joe Sutton

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Sounds like a great culture of trust at SPELT!  It'd be interesting to hear of times when the trust within the dept was strained/tested/challenged.  How did the designated leader respond?  This is similar to the idea of stress tests for banks and financial institutions, how could this be done concerning trust?  Did others show/assume leadership responsibility in maintaining the group culture during a challenge which tested the trust of the group?  I guess I'm wondering, can a group truly know its degree of trust in leaders and one another without navigating some type of 'trust test'?  Brian K.

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I was thinking along those very same lines!  I finally made my peace with “honesty” being the closest element to being genuine. Leaders who lack sincerity typically reveal their true motivations at some point (often unintentionally), and at that point the damage is done-trust is lost.

-Lisa Yankanich

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Honesty.  I feel that honesty is imperative to trust.  Trust cannot be built without honesty and when there is a situation where someone is dishonest then the trust is broken.  Once someone is dishonest with me the whole relationship changes and it becomes guarded.  Regardless of the possible consequences, honesty is the best policy.-- Christy Harris

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Honesty.  I feel that honesty is imperative to trust.  Trust cannot be built without honesty and when there is a situation where someone is dishonest then the trust is broken.  Once someone is dishonest with me the whole relationship changes and it becomes guarded.  Regardless of the possible consequences, honesty is the best policy.-- Christy Harris

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Brian-  Benevolence, honesty and openness connect to being genuine in my opinion.  I do also think that it is necessary for leaders to be genuine to build trust.  I think that if the 5 facets of trust are in place then the genuine part will be inherent. 

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Brian-  Benevolence, honesty and openness connect to being genuine in my opinion.  I do also think that it is necessary for leaders to be genuine to build trust.  I think that if the 5 facets of trust are in place then the genuine part will be inherent. 

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Over the years there have been many things that have occurred that could hamper the spec. ed. leadership team, but our team is never divisive.  If someone on the team makes a mistake or messes up something then we talk through the issue and figure out the best way of addressing the current problem and preventing future occurrences.  We have had some tough times and we help each other out.  It helps that we all have common goals which always focus on the best interest of students.

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Over the years there have been many things that have occurred that could hamper the spec. ed. leadership team, but our team is never divisive.  If someone on the team makes a mistake or messes up something then we talk through the issue and figure out the best way of addressing the current problem and preventing future occurrences.  We have had some tough times and we help each other out.  It helps that we all have common goals which always focus on the best interest of students.

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I agree with everything said regarding the trusting bond our Special Education Leadership Team has developed.  It is a relationship formed through the common goal of ensuring the success of all students.  I think our ability to keep that common goal at the forefront is what helps us continue through the tough times.   In response to Brian’s question, I do feel we have had several occurrences which have been “true tests” (at least I hope they were tests and there aren’t harder things coming 😊 and we’ve come through with stronger bonds.  We’ve all learned the power in humility: being able to admit when we need help, when we may not have handled something correctly, and when we have made bad decisions…. But with the strong team we have – I have found we can use the mistake(s) as a learning tool to move forward.  ~ Janet

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I agree with everything said regarding the trusting bond our Special Education Leadership Team has developed.  It is a relationship formed through the common goal of ensuring the success of all students.  I think our ability to keep that common goal at the forefront is what helps us continue through the tough times.   In response to Brian’s question, I do feel we have had several occurrences which have been “true tests” (at least I hope they were tests and there aren’t harder things coming 😊 and we’ve come through with stronger bonds.  We’ve all learned the power in humility: being able to admit when we need help, when we may not have handled something correctly, and when we have made bad decisions…. But with the strong team we have – I have found we can use the mistake(s) as a learning tool to move forward.  ~ Janet

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As I read your response I realized how much overlap there is for me with honesty and reliability. I find reliability to be a very important thing but that also pairs with honesty. If someone tells me they agree or will do something, I trust and believe that they will do it. When they don't, it could be because they are not reliable or that they were not being honest. I have had experiences where people would rather be dishonest than engage in a discussion of disagreement. This has resulted in disjointed information and mixed messages. If you suspect someone is not being honest it consumes so much cognitive energy as you continually try to identify if/when that person is being truthful. It makes it difficult to act when you feel as though you're walking on shaky ground.
Marcy

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At this moment, the area which most resonates with me is reliability.   Speaking specifically about my abilities to demonstrate trust…..  Working in the Special Education Department, we are continuously in receipt of serious and immediate concerns from school staff and /or parents which require an immediate response.  With this constantly fluctuating need for immediacy I often find it very challenging to be consistent and dependable to everyone simply due to the lack of time.   I also feel there is a strong relationship between reliability and competency.  When things become very busy with multiple priorities, I don’t feel I can competently respond to certain situations and to do my best to be reliable in what I have said I will do, I may not be showing the most competent effort.   - Janet

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You ask a great question!

I believe the strength of a team is truly tested during difficult times, and we have had multiple opportunities to be assessed in that area. Each of us has  had times where we have had to rely on the support of each other, as well as time when we have done extra to help a teammate. This dynamic, paired with the knowledge of our collective facets of trust, gets us through. Each of us is competent in stepping in for each other when needed, and we know we can rely on each other to get things done. We are probably brutally honest with each other (we had to warn our newest member that he needed to have some thick skin on our team because we cut to the chase and let each other know our opinions). We want each of us to succeed because we all recognize that our successes strengthen our team overall. Openness is tied to that as well. We don't withhold information from each other (only if we forget to share something or haven't had time - but it's never done intentionally).
Marcy

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I have worked in a school where the Principal would get angry when the task assigned to be completed was not done exactly at they wanted it to be. If this person wanted it completed a different way, why not explain that prior to assigning it? Instead it created a culture of "gotcha" and you never knew what to expect. I was never so happy to leave a school! Anne

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I was in a situation many years ago working with a colleague with a common focus of our work.  I had assumed that our goals were the same and that the process we were both undertaking was leading to that.  When something occurred that resulted in an unexpected outcome and what I think was embarrassing or frustrating for that colleague, the response towards me was anger which was expressed in front of others.  I most definitely felt betrayed and had to then defend my role in the process.  Since then, I am more cautious when approaching similar situations and evaluate the necessary steps and possible outcomes before fully committing, regardless of my opinion. Nancy Gregory

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I was in a situation many years ago working with a colleague with a common focus of our work.  I had assumed that our goals were the same and that the process we were both undertaking was leading to that.  When something occurred that resulted in an unexpected outcome and what I think was embarrassing or frustrating for that colleague, the response towards me was anger which was expressed in front of others.  I most definitely felt betrayed and had to then defend my role in the process.  Since then, I am more cautious when approaching similar situations and evaluate the necessary steps and possible outcomes before fully committing, regardless of my opinion. Nancy Gregory

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Response to Brian & Lisa …I was also thinking about the idea of genuine… is it assumed that if all the other elements are present, they are genuine?  Is it more difficult to capture, or quantify, if something is “genuine”?  Can it be faked?  My thoughts are that there would be some evidence that the other elements don’t really exist if they are in fact not genuine…authentic, real or true. Nancy Gregory

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Response to Brian & Lisa …I was also thinking about the idea of genuine… is it assumed that if all the other elements are present, they are genuine?  Is it more difficult to capture, or quantify, if something is “genuine”?  Can it be faked?  My thoughts are that there would be some evidence that the other elements don’t really exist if they are in fact not genuine…authentic, real or true. Nancy Gregory

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Response to Brandi and others…I agree with Brandi with regards to benevolence resonating with me the most.  I believe that this is foundational for building a trusting relationship to move forward with our work.  The other elements feed into benevolence to strengthen the relationship and bonds of trust further.  If there are conditions within the workplace among colleagues that lead to fear, lack of support, embarrassment, etc., negativity will surface and begin to compromise us reaching our goals.  The support and genuine caring from one another in a team can promote a cumulative effect to a larger body if this is visible in our daily work.  In Brandi’s example, this can also be “seen” through an experience and tell others about it.  We need to make sure that how we present ourselves in public is also how we operate out of public view… it is a position of our heart to do what is right.  And if we do something to break that trust, follow through with the 4 As of Absolution to restore the trust. Nancy Gregory

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Response to Brandi and others…I agree with Brandi with regards to benevolence resonating with me the most.  I believe that this is foundational for building a trusting relationship to move forward with our work.  The other elements feed into benevolence to strengthen the relationship and bonds of trust further.  If there are conditions within the workplace among colleagues that lead to fear, lack of support, embarrassment, etc., negativity will surface and begin to compromise us reaching our goals.  The support and genuine caring from one another in a team can promote a cumulative effect to a larger body if this is visible in our daily work.  In Brandi’s example, this can also be “seen” through an experience and tell others about it.  We need to make sure that how we present ourselves in public is also how we operate out of public view… it is a position of our heart to do what is right.  And if we do something to break that trust, follow through with the 4 As of Absolution to restore the trust. Nancy Gregory

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We are often pulled in may different directions in our work and find it difficult to be everything to everyone. As long as staff know that you are trying your best to be responsive and consistent, and you don't break their trust, I
often find staff will be more willing to overlook times when you aren't  able to meet expectations of everyone as quickly as they would like. - Anne

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I agree- as an administrator I try to always remember what it was like daily as a teacher and to give the pats on the back whenever I can.  Everyone needs to feel appreciated and when you can celebrate someone you need to take the opportunity as that often reaps more rewards for you as an administrator.  -Anne

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All facets of trust are important, however openness resonated with me.  I like relevant information shared with me to allow me the autonomy to make my own decisions and to make good decisions.  Openness connects with honesty.  I do not want half-truths or lies when delivering information.  I would say a synonym for openness would be transparency. I want the opportunity to collaborate, understand, help and grow when I am given all the information.  It would help others not to feel jilted or have inequities continue.  It is comparable to having a walking rubric.  Everyone should know protocols, rules, procedures and expectations without having to guess or assume. Openness cultivates good relationships and trust in organizations.

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Anne - it sounds like you were in an environment in which the leader created a culture of control instead of a culture of professionalism.

Nancy - I can relate to the betrayal of a trusted colleague.  Did the person ever try to build back the betrayal? In the video, they mention the 4 A's of Absolution (Admit it, apologize, ask for forgiveness, and amend your ways). I had been in a situation in which a trusted colleague had performed in a similar way and I believe if she had attempted these things - our relationship could have been repaired.
In the video, it was described that when leaders don't develop a trusting environment, teachers will spend their energy protecting themselves and have nothing left to work on actually improving student achievement.  What an unfortunate consequence! ~ Janet

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All facets of trust are important, however openness resonated with me.  I like relevant information shared with me to allow me the autonomy to make my own decisions and to make good decisions.  Openness connects with honesty.  I do not want half-truths or lies when delivering information.  I would say a synonym for openness would be transparency. I want the opportunity to collaborate, understand, help and grow when I am given all the information.  It would help others not to feel jilted or have inequities continue.  It is comparable to having a walking rubric.  Everyone should know protocols, rules, procedures and expectations without having to guess or assume. Openness cultivates good relationships and trust in organizations.
Tangie Scales

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I think genuine would be a good facet to add.  How we say what we say and the heart of what we say is important.  When we have dialogue or courageous conversation, I want to know that it is real and coming from a place of good intentions and care.  I do not like condescending , flippant, or sarcastic responses when we are talking about serious issues that involve children.
TCS

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Do you think that if the principal would have tried to make amends for breaking trust you would have accepted it? How do you make amends? I was wondering how much time would a leader spend on building and amending trust.

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The ability to be kind, caring or thoughtful are all important aspects of being human and showing good moral compass. In Charles county we have focused on teaching empathy through restorative practices. This is a way of being that focuses on community building, control and support. This resonates with me most because I feel more connected to the people in my building when we are able to communicate effectively and from a place of caring and support for one another. When we start with the adults this is important. It trickles down to the students and other community members. It also helps us understand how to interact with one another. -Darnell

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Thank you for sharing those experiences! In my travels I have had one supervisor that violated trust by sharing confidential information with others; this was done in the form of gossip. It made for a really hostile environment filled with cliques. I was able to get out of this environment, but as I reflect, I think about how a commmnity grows/recovers from this environment. What has to be done? My initial thought is replace problems, but that can’t always be a viable solution. Thoughts? -Darnell

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I am on a new leadership team formed in the last six months. I agree that trust is important. In the early stages of your team, what happened that helped you all form such a great bond?- Darnell