How does Kansas City heal discord and get big things done? It’s all about trust
Today we see broad social strife. Kansas City’s experience in the 1970s shows how we can address this successfully.
The 1970s was an historic time in Kansas City. It saw the construction of the Truman Sports Complex, Kansas City International Airport and Kemper Arena. We had strong automobile and steel manufacturing, transportation and more. But that progress came with labor and management strife. Stifled progress became the norm.
Strikes slowed construction of the sports complex, KCI and other projects. Public employees — including firefighters and teachers — struck, as did the utility, auto and steel industries. Distrustful relationships soured many companies on Kansas City, threatening our safety, economy and ability for government to get things done.
A group of civic leaders knew something had to change. Led by Bill Dunn, Sr. of JE Dunn Construction and Robert Reeds of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, they asked mediator and Rockhurst University professor the Rev. Frank Murphy to help, forming the LMC, the Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City.
Since then, Kansas City has seen billion-dollar office developments, a renovated sports complex, a new racetrack and soccer stadium, a new airport terminal project, growth in auto manufacturing, partnerships in fire service and more — all accomplished without strikes or lockouts, with a workforce nationally lauded for productivity. What changed?
Conflicts continue. That is natural. It’s the development of greater trust that has made Kansas City a place where big things can get done in a positive way.
Early LMC leaders didn’t have access to neurological research that shows how much more productive a trustful environment is. They knew instinctively that creating a culture where conflict is addressed before it escalates into a war requires trusting relationships. Getting there requires experimentation, patience, leadership and skills. As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof notes: “It’s a painstaking, frustrating process of building trust, keeping people from becoming defensive, and slowly ushering them to a new place.”
The LMC has learned lessons about building trusting relationships that apply now. Here are eight of them:
▪ Invite participation. Bring those affected to the table. George P. Shultz, the labor economist and Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state, talked about the magic of the process of participation. When people are involved in decisions they develop trust in the process, ideas to solve problems and a stake in a mutually beneficial outcome.
▪ Open minds. Extend what Stephen M.R. Covey calls “smart trust.” Begin by active listening. Express your ideas with clarity, honesty and consistency. Avoid hidden agendas.
▪ Open up time. Spend informal time together, with activities such as working on community projects and socializing when you can discuss things unrelated to your conflict.
▪ Find common facts. Establish a common set of facts that underlie the issues.
▪ Focus on actions, not actors. Focus on the behaviors involved and avoid judging the people. Behaviors can be identified and addressed. Judging generates defensiveness.
▪ Keep your promises. Do what you say you are going to do. Consultant Gordon Graham compares it to bank accounts: Actions build the value of your account or withdraw from it.
▪ Agree to disagree. Focus on the areas where you can find agreement and on fair processes to address the areas where agreement is harder.
▪ Keep it up. Relationships require continual effort. Building trust is an ongoing project.
The LMC’s leaders also understand, as Covey writes in his book “The Speed of Trust,” that trust is a learnable skill. We’ve been teaching that skill for more than 40 years.
Getting hard yet positive things done requires more leaders with the skills and attitudes to build trust at all levels of our economy, government and society. That’s how we make this community — and nation — a better place for the next 50 years.
Bob Jacobi is executive director of the Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How does Kansas City heal discord and get big things done? It’s all about trust."