Experts agree, trust is a necessity if you want a high performing and cohesive team (I decided against listing dozens of citations to support that. You’ve probably seen many of them already; they’re everywhere). When you think about what’s needed to build a solid foundation of trust, you may think of ideas such as:

• being honest with one another (admitting mistakes, asking for help when needed),
• authenticity (say what you mean and mean what you say)
• integrity (walk your talk)
• reliability (do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re doing to do it)
• accountability (calling one another one behaviors that hurt the team; addressing poor performance)

I would agree; and certainly not an all-inclusive list. One key element in building trust, is actually a prerequisite to all those listed above: COURAGE. It’s a courageous person who can readily admit his/her mistakes to teammates, or who can open up the dialogue around the controversial issue that has become the “elephant in the room.” And I have never, not once, witnessed a team member [respectfully] calling another on an unproductive behavior without a second or two of nearly tangible courage-mustering.

How courageous are you? Your response will undoubtedly vary based on the context. What makes it difficult (or easy) to be courageous in certain situations? How can we intentionally build our “courage” muscles, developing a stronger collective backbone for our team, our organization, our world?

Patrick Lencioni (author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Death by Meeting, and many other leadership texts) recently wrote about heroism (a result of acting courageously) in today’s society, communities, and workplaces. Here is a thought (from Lencioni) to leave you with: “The next time we witness someone taking a difficult stand for what is right, whether it is in the workplace, at school, in your church or little league, let’s take the time to tell them that we admire them for what they did. And better yet, let’s tell them that we wish we could be more like them, and that they’ve inspired us to try. Not only will that reinforce their heroic behavior, it will also increase the likelihood that the next time we are faced with a moment of truth, no matter how small it may seem, we choose to be a hero, too.”

Sherpa in Nepal

In 1997, I named my new company, Sherpa Higher Performance. It came about as the result of a really fun, multi-day brainstorming session with a few trusted colleagues, who graciously gave me their time. Our brainstorming process took us through discussions about our values, what impact I wanted to make on the world (or at least my little corner of it), and a listing of about 100 adjectives describing the people I anticipated would become my clients. We threw all those words, concepts, beliefs, and meanings into the air and somehow, “Sherpa” landed right in front of us. When it happened, it was clear as day.  And I have referred to myself as a sherpa, personally and professionally, for over a decade now.

What is a Sherpa? The Sherpa, according to Wikipedia, are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalaya. In Tibetan shar means East; pa is a suffix meaning ‘people’: hence the word sharpa or Sherpa. Sherpas are world renowned for their hardiness, guidance, and expertise on mountaineering expeditions up the high peaks of the Himalaya Mountains. When capitalized, Sherpa means the ethnic group. When written uncapitalized, sherpa generally means “guide.”

The metaphor of myself as sherpa has become my “true north,” the standard I use to make decisions regarding direction, purpose, new services, new clients, etc. The metaphor continues for me as I share some personal beliefs and values with the Sherpa people: humility, perseverance, importance of belonging to and contributing to one’s community, to name a few.

As a sherpa, I serve my clients by guiding them to a higher level and helping them reach heights they would otherwise not have reached on their own.

Who is a sherpa (or possibly, Sherpa) in your life? How does this person come alongside of you and encourage you to reach higher, to keep going?