Minda Harts, author of "The Memo," describes her diverse career path and the central role trust plays in enriching workplace experiences and driving business success. Her upcoming book introduces seven "Trust Languages" encompassing transparency, follow-through, feedback, security, acknowledgment, demonstration, and sensitivity. The podcast explores practical strategies for building and restoring trust between managers and teams.
Harts and host Nicole Lapin examine how cultivating open trust conversations, addressing mistakes, and personalizing approaches can improve team productivity and relationships. The discussion highlights trust as an essential element of a positive and successful work environment, going beyond an ethical concern into a critical factor impacting employee well-being and business outcomes.
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Harts' career journey saw her transition from aspirations like teaching and firefighting, to pursuing dentistry before switching to communications in college. Her first job was as an administrative assistant, where she often found herself as the only woman, woman of color, or youngest person in professional settings. Facing a toxic work environment, she began a blog sharing her experiences, evolving into her best-seller "The Memo."
Throughout her conversations, Harts consistently found trust issues were a dominant factor impacting employees' workplace experiences. From her own anxiety and depression due to disrespectful cultures, to businesses facing lower productivity and retention when trust erodes, Harts emphasizes trust is not just an ethical concern but a critical business driver.
In her upcoming book, Harts introduces a framework of 7 "Trust Languages" to improve professional relationships: Transparency, Follow-Through, Feedback, Security, Acknowledgment, Demonstration, and Sensitivity. She advises managers understand their team's trust needs, owning mistakes transparently. Approaching discussions appreciatively, rephrasing distrust as requests for trust-building actions can help restore damaged trust.
Harts and Lavoie offer strategies like articulating needs through positive, solution-oriented requests, rather than accusations. They highlight leaders modeling self-awareness and personalizing their approaches to earn trust. Fostering open trust conversations, where voices are heard and mistakes addressed, can increase team productivity and buy-in.
1-Page Summary
Minda Harts' career journey is a tale of transitions, realizing personal strengths, and striving for success in the face of adversity.
Harts’ career aspirations were varied; from her childhood desire to become a teacher—an aspiration shared by many children—to dreaming of a life of service as a firefighter. She entered college with the aim of becoming a dentist, but chemistry turned out to be a poor fit. Seeking guidance to graduate on time, she switched her major to communications.
Her first job out of college was as an administrative assistant, performing executive administrative work. Harts' flexibility in adapting to a new career path demonstrates her capacity to rise above challenges and find new opportunities.
Throughout each job after college, Harts often found herself as the only one in the room—whether it was being the only woman, the only woman of color, the only black woman, or often the youngest person in professional settings. These experiences in corporate America shaped her personal narrative and contributed to her eventual advocacy.
Facing a toxic work environment and the pressures to c ...
Minda Harts' Personal and Professional Background
Minda Harts emphasizes that trust is crucial for healthy and productive workplace experiences and that it subsequently serves as a critical business imperative.
Across the various stories collected by Minda Harts, a dominant narrative was the profound impact of trust issues on the everyday lives of employees within corporate settings.
In her conversations with individuals at companies and conferences, Harts consistently found that a lack of trust was a central concern among workers. Colleagues often encountered suspicion from one another, inhibiting mutual trust.
Harts shares her own experiences of working within a corporate environment where she suffered depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, due to a workplace culture lacking in humanity, dignity, and respect—an embodiment of eroded trust.
Trust within a workforce is not just a moral or psychological concern but is also a critical factor influencing key business outcomes.
Citing Edelman's trust barometer, Harts highlights that the presence of trust in the workplace can lead to the retention of half of its workforce. Additionally, she points out that em ...
The Significance of Trust in the Workplace
Minda Harts introduces a novel concept in her upcoming book "Talk to Me Nice," aiming to improve workplace dynamics through the understanding and application of "Trust Languages."
Minda Harts parallels the well-known "Love Languages" by crafting a unique framework to build trust in professional relationships. She has created languages to express what she needed from managers to feel seen and trusted, a concept she believes can rejuvenate workplace interactions and enhance respect and humanity, leading to less toxic environments.
Minda Harts identifies seven key "Trust Languages" as vital to cultivating workplace trust: Transparency, Follow-Through, Feedback, Security, Acknowledgment, Demonstration, and Sensitivity. For instance, she points out that sensitivity, especially regarding how colleagues may react to events like elections, is crucial in maintaining trust within a team. These languages are touchstones for respect, and employing them can prevent the erosion of trust that can occur rapidly within the workday.
Minda suggests that if managers want to help their team members excel, they need to understand and speak their key trust languages. Her strategies include approaching conversations with appreciation rather than defensiveness and rephrasing distrust as a request for what is needed, such as more feedback.
Leaders are encouraged to own the process of trust-building by admitting thei ...
Minda Harts' "Talk To Me Nice" and 7 Trust Languages
Restoring trust in the workplace is crucial for a healthy and productive work environment. Minda Harts and Morgan Lavoie offer strategies to articulate needs, model trust-building behaviors, and foster a culture of open trust conversations.
Minda Harts emphasizes the importance of a solution-oriented approach when addressing trust issues. She suggests articulating specific needs, like a desire for more transparency, to let others know what constitutes a trustworthy environment. Harts recommends approaching conversations about trust positively, basing explanations on facts rather than feelings, and avoiding approaching managers with accusations. Instead, she advises crafting requests in a way that seeks partnership with managers to create a constructive dialogue.
For example, instead of defensively accusing a manager of not fostering trust, Harts advises asking for more of what one needs, such as feedback, framing it in a positive and non-confrontational manner that fosters collaboration rather than conflict.
Minda Harts discusses the concept of self-awareness in leadership, highlighting leaders' responsibility to be reliable and transparent to contribute positively to the team's trust. She points to the need for leaders to understand the impact of their actions on others and calls for a personalized approach to management, where leaders get to know team members and their uniq ...
Building and Restoring Trust in the Workplace
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