I just read about a recent study on trust and selling, conducted by Huthwaite Inc, that has huge ramifications for managers and business leaders.

Their research revealed that the most successful salespeople were the ones people experienced as most trustworthy. While not surprising, if you dig deeper into their findings and then ask: “What are the implications for a manager or business leader”...that’s when things get interesting.

I believe their findings have significant implications for any person whose effectiveness depends in part on their ability to influence others:

If you’re a manager or business leader, that means you.

So, even if you don’t officially “sell” in your job, you unofficially sell, if your job involves influence.

As sales trainers are fond of noting, everybody “sells”, whether it’s a parent selling their kids on working hard in school, a spouse selling her partner on why seeing a ballet performance is a good thing, or a manager selling her team on the merits of a new initiative.

So back to the study on successful salespeople and trust...In analyzing the components of trust, the researchers at Huthwaite Inc. identified three key ingredients:

1. Candor
2. Competence
3. Concern

While the first two are worthy of exploration, we won’t be doing that today. It’s the third one that I’d like to focus on, because of what I’ve heard lately in my interviews regarding employee morale.

Since the economic downturn, I’ve been interviewing HR professionals, senior leaders, and managers about what their company is doing to keep employee morale high, despite the difficult times.

I was struck that — without exception — they all responded to this question in the same way:

“What do you see as THE most important thing you’re doing to help keep employee morale up during these difficult times?”

Every single person said it was how they had ramped up communication with employees, and more specifically how open their president was in sharing with all employees:

- The challenges they are facing
- The reasons for these challenges
- What decisions are being made
- How each employee can help make a difference

When Bret Watson, president of Jotul North America, had to break the news to employees about a small layoff last fall and the realities of the woodstove market, he didn’t come across as an “all business big boss” spelling out the harsh realities to the “little people.”

“He was probably the most distraught person in the room,” observed Royce Guptill, a member of the welding team. “It’s obvious that he took it very personally.”

Think about times you’ve received bad news from your boss — or someone higher up the food chain — and they acted like “Hey, this is just how it is. Deal with it” and compare that with the same situation, except the person clearly showed they cared about your well-being.

When you think of your experience with both types of people, think of the difference caring and concern makes in terms of whether you:

1. Believe that employee well-being was taken into account when the decision was made, rather than believing you and the rest were thrown under the bus without a thought.

2. Trust that they will consider your interests in future difficult issues or will simply act in self-interest.

3. Care about their interests.

4. Feel a sense of loyalty toward them.

5. Are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, even if you don’t agree with, or understand, their decision.

Caring goes a long way, doesn’t it?

I heard a really touching example of the power of caring at William Arthur, a division of Hallmark, after their president, Paul Wainman, had to announce a layoff this past winter.

“It was difficult for him,” commented Dennis Dube, a manager at William Arthur. “He didn’t pretend it wasn’t hard; he was up front. You could see his feelings you could see how much he didn’t want to do this and how much he really values his employees.”

Because of the caring shown by the president and the rest of the management team — including the respectful way they gave those laid off choices on how to exit the company — the emotional consequences were far different than in most companies.

“I had more comments from my team saying ‘I wouldn’t want to be you guys and do what you’re doing’. Their hearts really went out to management,” said Dube.

Contrast this with the bitterness and “Us versus Them” climate that often follows downsizings and other unpleasant news from senior management.

So what’s the take away message here?

Here are what I see as the key points to reflect on:

1. Avoid the temptation to be so bottom line and goal driven that you forget the emotional/relationship side of work and business. While you might think “Hey, it’s just business” — just like the movie mobster says before whacking someone — it’s never “just business” to the people whose lives are affected.

2. Remember that people are starving for authenticity, for “realness”, in leaders. Being strong and inspiring confidence doesn’t mean pretending not to be affected by something that one SHOULD be affected by. It doesn’t mean “whistling past the graveyard” and pretending to have things under control when it’s obvious to anyone that those things CAN’T or aren’t under control. So allow yourself to just be yourself — a real person — rather than believing you have to act out the role of boss, VP, president, etc.

3. Related to the above point, let your emotions show. I’m not advocating sobbing in front of your workforce when bringing painful news. I AM suggesting that you practice showing a little more of your feelings than you have in the past. The more real you are to your employees, the more relatable you are. The more people can relate to you, the more they trust you and the more they want to work with you to achieve your goals.

Don’t assume people know how you feel about difficult decisions. I think being a good manager and a good leader is similar to being a good parent; part of your job is to share your inner world, to share your thought process and your feelings. This is part of authenticity and transparency. So in the case of bringing bad news to employees, you might let them know how hard it was to make the decision and the concerns you had about making it, and your concerns about its impact on them.

Think of when you’ve had someone do this with you. Even if you didn’t like the news or the outcome, it helped when you knew what the person was thinking and feeling when they made the decision. And it REALLY helped knowing they thought about the impact on you.

4. Practice paying attention to opportunities to share your concern and to show that you care. There’s an old saying “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” You can add to that “People don’t care about your goals and wishes — and about helping you achieve them — unless they know you care about them.”

Lastly, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Marcus Buckingham, one of the leaders of the Gallup Organization’s landmark research on employee engagement, and the author of several books, including The One Thing You Need to Know About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success:

“I’d like to replace this skill (managers caring for their employees) with one that is more hard-edged, more tangible, but there’s no getting around the data. A multiple of research studies confirm that employees are more productive when they feel that someone at work cares about them.”

“Employees who feel cared about are less likely to miss work, less likely to have accidents, less likely to file workers compensation claims, less likely to steal, less likely to quit, more likely to recommend the company to friends and family.”