Our Head of Estimating is consistently late with bids, and during our Level 10 Meetings he blames the sales team for poor inputs, destroying trust across the department. How do we use the Trust Equation to determine if this is a capability issue or a trust issue before we make a hard RPRS call?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To make an objective right-person-right-seat call, you must separate conative capability from relational trust. The Trust Equation from Charles Green's framework measures trust as Credibility plus Reliability plus Intimacy, divided by Self-Orientation.

First, look at Reliability and Credibility. Is your Head of Estimating late because he lacks the technical capability to estimate quickly, or is he simply disorganized? If he is disorganized, he is failing on Reliability. If he does not know how to estimate complex bids under pressure, he has a Credibility and GWC™ capacity issue.

Second, look at Self-Orientation, which is the ultimate trust-killer. When he spends his Level 10 Meetings™ blaming the sales team rather than collaborating to solve the bottleneck, his Self-Orientation is extremely high. He is prioritizing self-preservation over the team's success.

To resolve this, have a direct, one-on-one conversation. Address his high Self-Orientation and lack of Reliability directly. Use the Trust Creation Process: listen to his frustrations regarding the sales inputs, frame the shared problem of late bids, and commit to a clear plan.

If he takes ownership of his Reliability and lowers his Self-Orientation by working with Sales to clean up the input process, you have a trust issue that can be repaired. If he remains defensive and continues to point fingers, he does not GWC™ the seat. You must make the hard RPRS call immediately to preserve your culture.