When you build trust within your team or network, you reinforce your organization’s real value, build credibility and motivate individuals to remain engaged.  But, as a nonprofit leader, how do you *actually* build that trust across a broad reaching staff or network of members?  

In the excitement to return to in-person meetings, to re-connect and re-establish trust among the people doing the work, a prospective client recently requested we facilitate an old-school team building exercise: the trust fall.   It’s been awhile since I’d even heard the words! 

Yes, they wanted to build trust at their in-person gathering, but is that what trust falls actually do? Personally, the idea of falling backward, blindfolded into anyone’s outstretched arms gives me total anxiety.  So I investigated briefly…ie, “Alexa, do trust falls actually build trust?” 

In short the answer is: No. There’s no evidence to suggest that a trust fall activity actually translates to trust between people in real life. In fact, trust falls can be harmful and exclusionary–actually eroding trust.  I really appreciated this post that pulls together current research and practice:

“Google’s Project Aristotle concluded that what truly made a team great was “psychological safety.” This is not formed by completing ropes course together at an offsite — rather, it’s about developing a deep empathy for your colleagues and sharing things about yourself that allow them to empathize with you.

According to research done by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmonson, it’s when people feel safe speaking up, addressing conflicts, and being themselves.”

So, if not trust falls, how do nonprofit organizations build opportunities for “psychological safety”? How do we build trust and engagement within our teams and networks—especially when each division operates differently; each community context differs;  each site has different staffing levels, funding levels, and community partnerships?  Especially when the only constant in social impact work is change?

And amidst the change, organizations still need teams to:

• Generate innovative solutions to problems 

• Understand how peers in different geographic areas/departments/sites have addressed similar challenges

• Fill knowledge gaps in their own leadership practices

• Deepen their own skills so they can better lead and manage their teams

• Recharge their commitment to your organization’s work 

Then wouldn’t it be great if your team was saying things like:

“I am not alone. Some of my leadership challenges are consistent challenges in our organization. How can we solve them?

“Knowing that my colleagues care makes all the difference.”

“Wow! I can actually do this.”

Further, would it be too much to ask that your team could build trust with each other and foster engagement with their own teams while also keeping a focus on the big picture–achieving their mission?  

If you’re saying “Yes! Yes!” We get you.

Here’s how you do it:  Launch an executive council.  

An executive council is an ongoing, facilitated, synchronous cohort experience with real-time, asynchronous supports.  

Offered to 25 or fewer participants, it’s not a book club, a community of practice or a professional learning community.  It’s not a peer support group or coaching experience.  It’s not a required training or college course.  But, it’s kind of a combination of all of those–with a focus on results.  

How do I know? Because DWL offers executive councils to a select number of our clients. And, our clients have realized successes! Like those results listed above: participants are generating more innovative solutions, connecting to peers, solving problems, filling knowledge gaps, deepening skills, recharging commitment and (importantly) building trust.

Key to the success of the executive council is that it’s: 

• Ongoing,

• Focused on belonging, and;

• Facilitated by pro facilitators.  

Sessions are designed based on guiding principles rather than training topics, and the work unfolds collaboratively. 

Participants walk away doing their jobs differently. More sustainably. With more energy.

So, there you have it–if you want to build trust, engagement and credibility within your team or network, try the executive council. Please, no trust falls :)