Just ONE Thing
Why Your Shop Falls Apart Without You: It Starts With Trust
Episode 259
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Hello, everybody. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing. We're a coaching and training company for the independent auto and truck repair shops across the country and Canada. So if there's something you need help with, feel free to reach out, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I wanna talk about asking yourself, are you ever asking yourself, why are you so exhausted? You know, you feel like you have to stay on top of everything. You're repeating yourself constantly. You're carrying the weight of the business alone. That's what it feels like.
But I need you to understand, your problem probably isn't your team. It's probably a trust issue.
See, when you have trust lacking in your shop, I'm gonna give you some symptoms of a trust issue, and I just want you to think this through real quick.
Number one, you micromanage.
Number two, you overthink.
Number three, you double-check everything, and you're going home completely stressed. These are signs that you're having a trust issue.
Here's the other one. You stop believing that people will follow through, that they're gonna do the work that they're supposed to do.
So here's what I want you to really get.
When there's little to no trust, leadership becomes exhausting. I need you to understand that the frustration you're feeling isn't about the activity that your team is doing or isn't doing. It's caused by unmet expectations, uncertainty, inconsistency, and not trusting others to deliver what matters to you.
See, when you're squeezing so hard, trying really hard to control what's going on in your business, that's often a response to mistrust. Micromanaging is misplaced fear. See, when trust is low, everything feels heavier, and mistrust forces people, both you and your team, into self-protection mode.
So here's what I want you to ask yourself.
Do I trust my team when I'm not around? Do people feel safe telling me the truth? Have I created an environment of accountability or an environment of fear?
So this is what I need you to understand. Relationships are on kind of a continuum, okay? On one side, you have transactional relationships, and on the other, you have relational, where you're really connecting to people.
When you don't have trust, you have transactional relationships. This is where people comply. They're gonna protect themselves, do the minimum, avoid risk, stop being honest, and then they're not gonna make decisions. They're gonna come to you, and they want you to make every decision for them. Why? Because it isn't safe for them to make it themselves. This is called defensive decision-making.
So I need you to understand that without trust, all you're ever gonna get are transactions because people show up, but there's nobody home. They're not going to fully engage. They don't own what they're doing.
When they are connected to you, to your mission, to where you're going, this is what happens with trust. They take ownership of what they're doing. They communicate honestly. They solve problems faster and on their own. They lean into what they're doing emotionally, and they're committed instead of complying.
So this is huge because I need you to understand that trust is the fuel that moves relationships from being transactional up to being relational.
So I want to give you a framework. I love frameworks because here's the truth. You can't make someone trust you. You don't earn trust. You have to become trustworthy. How do you do that?
By becoming someone who consistently invites trust. That's what trust is. Trust is an invitation.
Now, there are gonna be some people that just trust you right away. There's gonna be other people it takes them a really long time, and that has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with their history, their experiences, how many times they've gotten burned. So this is super, super important, okay?
We got to remember our trust bank. Every relationship has a trust account. When there's low trust, it's more transactional, more protective. When there's high trust, it's more openness, honesty, and full on in.
So let's talk about what that trust framework looks like.
Number one, tell the truth, even when it's uncomfortable, because you got to understand, people trust honesty more than they do perfection. Stop trying to be perfect. You can't.
The only time you can put perfect with me is if you put the word asshole after it, because that's the only thing I'm perfect at. You've got to understand, do people get truth from you, or do they get this polished version, which doesn't create connection?
Why? Because that polished version is a facade. People can't connect with facades. Listen, you're just as screwed up as the rest of us. I don't want to hurt your feelings. You're not a special little snowflake. You are just... You got to understand, you are screwed up. We all are. That's okay. Okay? That's okay.
So the first one is tell the truth.
Second, remain consistent. People trust patterns, not promises. Your moods, your reactions, your standards, they're either gonna create emotional safety or emotional uncertainty. So you got to be really, really careful here.
Do people know which version of you they're gonna get? In other words, are they gonna get Dr. Jekyll, or are they gonna get Mr. Hyde? If that's a concern, there can't be trust, because I need you to truly understand, trust equals safety. That's what this is all about.
So we have tell the truth. We have remain consistent.
Understand before defending. Defensiveness kills trust really, really fast. Listening creates safety. Asking questions creates safety. Seeing it from their perspective creates safety.
So the question I want you to ask yourself is, βDo people feel heard by me or managed by me?β Okay? If you're not willing to be in a listening mode, you're gonna end up with people not telling you the truth.
The S, show and tell. Your words and behavior gotta match. You can talk about what you want or what you're gonna do all the time. Remember, people trust patterns over promises. It's your integrity that creates that consistency over time when you keep doing what you say you're gonna do, even when nobody's looking. Super, super important.
Here's the question: Does my behavior support my message? Super, super important.
And then finally, the last T is take responsibility. Trust grows when accountability is visible, when you're holding your team accountable, but you're also holding yourself accountable to that same level of accountability.
Leaders who own their mistakes create safe environments, and you need to own your mistakes publicly. When we're dealing with a team member making a mistake, we're gonna deal with that privately. Do you understand? We're gonna deal with it privately so they feel safe.
But to make others feel safe, you've gotta own your mistakes publicly. So here's the thing, key question: When things go wrong, do you explain or do you own?
Super important.
So once again, T, tell the truth. R, remain consistent. U, understand before defending. S, show and tell. And then T, take responsibility.
Distrust is gonna kill initiative, honesty, creativity, innovation, accountability, emotional investment, right? Where trust is absent, people are going to protect themselves. And self-protection destroys teams, it destroys marriages, businesses, and leadership culture. Okay?
So I want you just to get this one thing. You can't build a trustworthy business while being emotionally unpredictable, defensive, or inconsistent.
So I need to ask you something. I want you to ask somebody close to you, βWhat makes me difficult to trust?β
And then I want you to listen. Don't defend, don't explain, don't justify. Just listen. Because trust isn't built with grand gestures. It's built in small moments where people decide whether you're safe, honest, consistent, and real. That's what's important. Facades are exhausting. Being yourself is everything, and you're good enough, okay?
I'll give these to you one more time. I'm sorry for saying them so fast.
The first one is tell the truth. The second is remain consistent. The third is understand before defending. S is show and tell. And then the T is take responsibility.
Everybody, there's your framework right there. Remember, it's an invitation. Trust is an invitation. Please share this video. People need to hear this. While all this frustration, they think it's people and this and that, and honestly, it's a trust issue.
And if you can step back and understand where that trust is lacking, you can start to create some really amazing conversations with the team members individually to help build that trust. You can show them where to grow. You're not gonna get anybody to grow frustrated. You're not gonna be able to get anybody to open up and be vulnerable frustrated.
You've gotta look at this and say, βYou know something? This is me, not them.β And then make a difference.
So if this video resonates, please share it. Also, if you're watching this video and this is really hitting home and you're like, βI've had it, man. I can't do anymore. I don't know what else to do,β reach out to me, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), and let's just talk, see how I can help.
Maybe we can, all right? Maybe we could be that bridge from where you are now to where you wanna be. Let me know.
Thank you, everybody, for being here. I'll see you all next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
