Trust Tour

Last night I met Alice, she is a retired labor union attorney. She and I were at the bar (I was eating, not drinking – really). I offered her my bread and made a new friend. I asked her about trust. She began to give me a history lesson about why the unions exist. I must have asked a pretty dumb question because she seemed bewildered at my ignorance. At the end of her speech it was clear she needed me to understand that unions exist because of distrust, and each new version of the union movement is based upon this foundation. Infusing trust in this relationship is heresy and there is no way that is was going to happen in our lifetime. Maybe I should focus my attention of something more achievable like eliminating world hunger. I am kidding here. . . Alice and I had a very animated and respectful conversation and I fully enjoyed it.

Of course, when someone says trust can’t be achieved that always gets my attention. I started to wonder what change needs to happen to bring people in the same company into alignment. We need to start creating a new kind of union… a real one… one between the leaders and their people. This is what a union should be. The definition of integrity starts with the word “whole”. In order for a company to weather economic storms it has to be whole, anything that divides it threatens to kill it. I am not saying that the unions are wrong or that management is wrong. I am asking for some thoughts about how we can transcend the divide and create a bridge to collaboration. I do not have answers yet, I will be working on this subject more during the Trust Tour. If we are going to survive into the future we are going to need a new outlook. I am putting it out here for you to think about. I am interested in your opinion about the future of unions. Tell me what you think and remember to take the poll.

Do you think the future is going to be closer to co-creation or annihilation or something in between?

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