Focus on Trust

[John Rea]

Hi everyone,

found this summary paper (HERE) in “Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies” Vol 20 No.2 2015. It is focused on the role of trust when building and maintaining high performing teams. Key points for me were ..

1. Team leader’s role crucial : to hold the vision/purpose, to keep the team’s energy high, to set clear & high standards, to enable access to feedback data, routine follow up (monitoring progress), building & supporting commitment & confidence, challenging (“what makes this better ?”). Consciously building trusting relationships between team members. Interestingly the trust of the team members specifically in the Team Leader was highlighted as important (at least in sports teams). Finally the leader makes clear that success comes from the team and not from folks acting as individuals ..

In high-performing teams, members are not interested in their own goals and success, but care and help their team members so they could reach goals together as a team

2. Regular face to face interaction (a process of continuous team-building : “frequent communication creates higher productivity”), empathy, respect and genuine listening
3. Not just the facts “on the table” but encouraging emotions & feelings – “developing a genuine, mutual concern for each other’s wellbeing …”

“Sharing personal opinions, information and feelings helps to increase trust in teams. People express their feelings and give feedback and recognition to each other more freely in high-trust teams. In high-trust teams, interaction and discussion is more open and it helps to solve inevitable disagreements. Trust is an enabler in the creation and growth of team spirit – “the us factor”.

4. Trust refers to the degree of emotional safety in team relationships.
5. “..Trust serves as the glue that maintains the cohesiveness of a team”
6. Trust is fundamental for collaboration
7. To flourish Trust needs : openness, honesty, active listening, communication, consistency, competence, fairness and mutual respect.
8. There is a real cost to not developing a strong culture of trust

Without trust, problems in communication,empowerment and quality will be inevitable (Owen 1996). Furthermore,without trust, opinions, questions and improvement ideas are not always taken into account; moreover, this may lead to a situation where the team members are not willing to help each other

I found the paper echoes a great deal from the CTI webinar on Building Trust. In the latter CTI suggest …

1. Being Open & Honest
2. Willing to be Vulnerable
3. Dependable
4. Showing Up & Staying
5. Extending Trust … Going 1st
6. Protecting the safety of others
7. Taking responsibility for the impact
8. Committed to Repair & Recover

Finally as a resource on Trust I’d like to add Brene Brown’s Anatomy of Trust video (HERE). Ms Brown used the acronym BRAVING to summarize what’s important to her about trust … This also fuses nicely with the CTI 8 above ..

“B”- BOUNDARIES: I will say no when I feel I need to and I am willing to respect and accept your “no” when you are employing your boundaries. We hold boundaries for others and expect them held for ourselves.

“R”- RELIABILITY: I can only trust you if you do what you say you are going to do over and over again. This means (at work or play) staying aware of your competencies and limitations so that you don’t over-promise and can deliver on commitments and balance competing priorities. Your actions mean more than your words. Trust is built over time with small acts.

“A”- ACCOUNTABILITY: I can only trust you if when you make a mistake, you are willing to own it, apologize, and make amends. I can only trust and respect you if when I make a mistake, you are willing to let me own it, apologize, and you will offer true forgiveness.

“V”- VAULT: You don’t share information or experiences that are not yours to share. I need to know that my confidences are kept and that you are not sharing information with me about other people that should be confidential.” Relationships built on gossip about others are not trusting they are based on “common enemy intimacy.

“I”- INTEGRITY: Choosing courage over comfort. Choosing what is right over fun, fast, or easy. And practicing your values not just professing your values.

“N”- NON-JUDGEMENT: You and I can both struggle and feel comfortable asking for help. We can freely share holes in our knowledge and skills without fear of judgment. If we judge ourselves for needing and accepting help, we may also be judging others who we help.

“G”- GENEROSITY: Our relationship is a trusting relationship if you can assume the most generous thing about my words, intentions, and behaviors. I will do the same. When in doubt we seek to understand and be curious before we judge.

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