Stephen M.R. Covey once said that business moves at the speed of trust. As we all know, trust is hugely important in our relationships at work with our leader and the organization as a whole. For when we don’t have a trusting relationship, we are less creative, less innovative and less productive. In these organizations, teammates spend an inordinate amount of time and energy navigating the minefield of mistrust and doubt to protect themselves from being on the wrong end of the blowup when something goes awry, fails or isn’t exactly what the boss asked for. Most, if not all, of us, have worked in these organizations or can empathize with those who do. Without trust in business, the organization cannot move forward, adapt or accomplish the goals that it wants to. Trust is fundamental to the business relationship and the existence of the organization.

We have seen numerous examples of leaders and organizations that have ignored or abused trust in their organizations. These companies are often forever labelled as useful, bad examples of abuse of trust and deceit. Examples such as Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco come to mind, but many companies have also had trust or integrity issues within recent memory. Recent public works projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, have been highlighted as an example of the misuse of power and ethical violations. The Federal Government within Canada is also not immune to ethical breaches, deceit and mistrust. Even though the Enron accounting scandal was publicized nearly 20 years ago, the number of scandals, ethical violations, and examples of integrity issues seem to continue to escalate rather than the lessons learned of the past embraced and applied. However, regardless of the historical problems, we must continue to build trust within our businesses and our teams. Trust must be one of the first things that leaders must work to build with their teammates and one that leaders must continue to nurture and develop. It is in the trust that exists between leader and team member and between the people and the organization that the greatest opportunities for innovation and problem solving occur.

He who does not trust enough will not be trusted. 

Lao Tzu

There is very little doubt on the importance of trust in organizations as we have a lot of examples of what happens when trust is absent or breaks down. The critical question becomes how to build trust within teams, especially between a leader and those they lead. I remember a private conversation that I had with a more junior leader a couple of years ago, and we were talking about trust and the importance of trust in his relationship with his team. So I asked him if he thought his team members trusted him? And before he had a chance to answer, I then asked him what evidence he had to support his answer. I have asked this question to many leaders time and time again, and they are quick to respond with an emphatic yes. Of course, my team members trust me, they say, but they lack the evidence to support their answers. They intuitively know that trust is important but didn’t have any examples or evidence to back up their response. This question and questioning line are a staple of the coaching that I do with leaders, whether as their line manager or performance coaching. This question causes people to go deep into themselves and examine their actions, motivations and relationships with their team in a way that they often hadn’t done before. And while they themselves want to be in a trust-filled relationship with their leader, they can usually recognize that the relationships they are cultivating with their teammates are not where they need to be.

Coming back to this conversation that I had with a young leader who I just asked if his team members trusted him and what evidence do you have to support your answer. He sat there, contemplating my question. You could see that he was really thinking hard about his response and deeply examining his relationship with each of his teammates in real-time as he sat with me. And then, after what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was likely close to a minute (which is a long pause in a one on one conversation), he slowly looked back up at me and simply said, “I have some work to do.” It was a beautiful moment as in that minute of reflection, this leader, who intellectually fully understood the importance of trust in accomplishing team and business goals, realized that he wasn’t creating the best environment he could for his team and he needed to do more. And so with my reply of “Then go do that.” off he went to build a better trusting relationship with his team.

Building trust within a team shouldn’t be viewed as easy work or hard work; it is just work that is necessary as part of building a team and accomplishing goals. Trust is created through the actions we take as leaders and the fidelity, or alignment, those actions have with what we say. For example, we cannot say that there are no stupid questions and then berate someone for asking what we think is a question that they should already know the answer to. Or we cannot say that we value our people and then treat them poorly or as expendable items when the quarterly results are not as good as we “need them to be.” Trust is built by being open and transparent with your team, being clear on expectations and providing good quality feedback about performance in a timely fashion. As the leader, it is about being invested in the development of each individual and helping them fulfill their greatest potential while the team accomplishes its goals and objectives. In a word, trust is built by caring for and about each individual and how they come together to perform as a team.

Trust is not a ‘soft’ virtue but a hard, economic driver for every organization.  

Douglas Conant

Mark Divine in his book “Unbeatable Mind,” explores trust and trustworthiness extensively.  Some excerpts from his book are helpful to share here.

“Trustworthiness is the glue that holds relationships and teams together.  It is evidenced when an individual displays qualities in action deemed dependable by others, such as: 

1. They are aligned in thought, word, and deed and thus display a predictable integrity in their actions.
2. They follow through on all commitments.
3. They are courageous and don’t shirk from responsibilities or challenging assignments.
4. The don’t run or hide during a crisis but rather step up to lead and help out.
5. They are competent enough to get the job done well and are unbraid to ask the right questions!
6. They are supportive of the team and delegate and trust them. 

So trustworthiness is a character trait that has real-world transactional implications beyond one’s personal or business reputation.  In a business dealing, a breach of trust can cause a transaction to fail, can degrade one’s reputation, and increase cost to all parties.  Personal and team trustworthiness must be placed on the highest priority list, measured, and practiced, but how? 

First let’s look at a few common myths about trust and then dispel them. 

1. Trustworthiness is a soft skill only.  Wrong.  Trust is a combination of soft and hard skills.
2. Trustworthiness is developed slowly, over time.  Wrong.  It can created and destroyed quickly.  The key is to develop the habit of maintaining trustworthiness at all times, which takes discipline.
3. Trustworthiness is just solely about integrity. Wrong.  Though integrity is critical for trust to develop between parties, it goes beyond integrity and speaks to one’s entire character.
4. Once lost, trustworthiness is gone forever.  Wrong.  You can make amends, say you are sorry, and then rebuild trust. 
5. In business, it is simply too risky to trust.  Wrong.  It is essential to have trust for optimal performance in business, as in all areas of life.  If you are trustworthy and must deal with a party you know to be untrustworthy or that you simply don’t know well (a pretty common scenario in business situations), then trust cannot exist.  However, this doesn’t mean you cannot do business period.  Simply transact business and verify results, let trust build, and remain aware.  As I said, though, real progress is only made when both parties have a high level of trustworthiness. 
6. Trustworthiness is only relevant to individuals and teams.  Wrong.  Organizations have a reputation based upon the collective trustworthiness of each person in it.  Their trustworthiness is displayed in how their customers, peers, and society treat them.

When it comes to developing trustworthiness, what behaviours can you work on to turn trustworthiness into a virtue?  Here are some ideas: 

1. Talk straight - avoid spins, lies, double talk, and flattery.
2. Demonstrate respect - you want and deserve respect, so begin by showing respect for others.
3. Create transparency - avoid withholding information and keeping secrets unless absolutely necessary to protect intellectual property or to prevent someone from getting hurt.
4. Right wrongs quickly - we all screw up, so admit it, and repair things as soon as possible.
5. Show loyalty - don’t take all the credit or sell  others out.  Don’t gossip!
6. Deliver the results that you promise.  Better yet, exceed them.
7. Earn your Trident every day - meaning to strive to improve your trustworthiness every day.
8. Clarify expectations - ensure that the explicit and implicit tasks of your mission and those that you delegate are crystal clear.
9. Practice accountability - start with yourself, and then demand it of your team and organization.  But the buck always stops with you.
10. Practice authentic listening.
11. Communicate with brutal honesty.
12. Learn to trust others by delegating and giving more responsibility and then providing support when inevitable failures occur.

The key is to open up the dialogue about trustworthiness with your team, and be willing to expose yourself to vulnerability and direct, honest feedback from them.  You may be surprised at what you learn about yourself and your teammates, and the discussion alone will increase trust between you.  Building trust by forging our own trustworthiness will allow loyalty to also rise with the tide.”

You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible. 

Anton Chekhov

Trust is critical to the relationships that we have at work and in the business world in which we operate. It becomes tangible through its presence in decision making, creativity and innovation. And it’s absence is felt tremendously throughout the organization as well. Building trust should be part of a leader’s conscience work every day, and as part of every activity and interaction. Deciding to work on trust only when a problem becomes apparent is already too late to stem the impact that lost trust has already had.