Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.
-Stephen Covey
It is often said that economic development is a team sport. Having been a practitioner for 20 years, I can tell you that is a certainty which cannot be overstated. The most misunderstood, abused and essential ingredient of any successful team is trust. It cannot be bought or manufactured, it can only be earned, and it can dissipate in an instant. Given all that, how do we ever achieve it?
Thankfully, the formula for building trust is straightforward. Members of a team must be transparent about their goals, operate with integrity to achieve, show that they are fallible in their efforts, hold each other accountable and understand that they cannot achieve success alone. We all know that moving your community forward is not as simple as setting a direction and saying “go.” Residents, community stakeholders, community leaders and their staffs must trust enough not only to follow, but to work together. Here’s a brief video about the importance of trust from Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and other management books.
Trust is the oil that makes the economic development engine work. Is trust being built in your community efforts? Is it eroding? What is one step you—or we—can take this week to build greater trust to achieve economic development goals?
–Kenny McDonald
One Columbus Update
- Last week, Columbus was named the No. 7 metro for economic development projects in 2014 by Site Selection magazine. The Columbus Region moved up yet another spot this year, and Ohio repeated its No. 2 ranking as a state. Thank you and congratulations to our expanding companies, and to our state and local partners! Other Ohio cities recognized include Akron, Ashland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Findlay, New Philadelphia-Dover, Toledo and Wooster.
- This week, the One Columbus team will meet with companies and attend the Forbes Reinventing America Summit in Chicago. At home, we’ll see you at the 2015 Experience Columbus Annual Meeting.