Awards dinners are always an adventure. You never know who you are going to sit next to…you never are quite sure what is on the evening’s menu…and you never know what the evening will end up including.

During the MIPS 2009 Awards dinner, the company was great, the food was excellent, and the evening speaker was even better. But I’ll get to him in a second. First, let me report on the awards, the whole point of the dinner. Mark Wilson, marketing director, Americas, Milestone Systems handed out awards in each of Milestone’s partner programs. The Manufacturer Alliance Partner (MAP) program award was a tie – with the award going to both JVC and Axis. The Milestone Solutions Partner (MSP) program award went to Open Options Inc., Carrollton, Texas. The Milestone Channel Partner (MCP) program award went to Earth Security Electronics Inc., Glen Burnie, Md., and the Milestone Distributor award went to Anixter, Glenview, Ill.

 

“There are a lot of ways to decide who the best partner is in each of these categories,” Wilson said. “But to us, these partners stand out because of the focus and cooperation that has occurred between the two companies.”

 

Back to the evening speaker, Dave Horsager of Horsager Leadership Studio, St. Paul, Minn. Horsager proved to be both entertaining (he used magic tricks and provided high energy throughout his speech), and, more importantly, valuable -- sharing on trust, and the impact it can have on companies’ bottom lines.

 

“Without trust we all lose productivity, retention of good people, reputation, morale and revenue,” Horsager said. “The lower the trust, the more time everything takes, the more everything costs, and the lower the loyalty is of every one involved. However, with greater trust come greater innovation, creativity, freedom, morale, and a bigger bottom line.”

 

According to Horsager, trust is built on eight key factors.

 

1. Consistency: It’s the little things, done consistently, that make the big difference.

 

2. Clarity: People trust the clear and mistrust or distrust the ambiguous. Be clear about your mission, purpose, expectations, and daily activities.

 

3. Compassion: Think beyond yourself. Never underestimate the power of sincerely caring. It is the reason we trust our mothers over some sales people.

 

4. Character: Do what is right over what is easy. Character is a mix of two things. One is integrity, which means being the same from beliefs to words to actions. The other is moral character.

 

5. Contribution: Few things build trust quicker than actual results. Be a contributor that delivers real results!

 

6. Competency: Staying fresh, relevant and capable builds trust. The humble, teachable person keeps learning new and better ways of doing things. They stay current on ideas and trends.

 

7. Connection: People want to follow, buy from and be around friends. People become friends when they build connection. Ask questions. Listen.

 

8. Commitment: Stick with it through adversity. Followers trusted General Patton, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Jesus and George Washington because they saw commitment. They saw sacrifice for the greater good. Commitment reveals and builds trust.

 

For information on Horsager Leadership Studio, visit www.ideahorse.com.