August 6, 2014
Have you ever managed teams that distrusted each other? How about being on a team where trust was brushed under the carpet? If you’ve been in these situations you know how disruptive and draining this can be to the team. Distrust grinds productivity to a halt and enables a culture of fear and resentment. A place such as this is where individuals don’t voluntarily choose to end up. So my questions to you are: “What does trust look like for you?” and “How do you know you trust somebody?”
Defining Trust
Please read these two quotes below and as you read the quotes how do you describe what is evoked in you?
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” - F. Nietzsche
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” - E. Hemmingway
Emotions are that which predispose us to a particular action. 1 Trust is an emotion because when we trust, we are inclined to take certain actions. However, we mistakenly treat trust as a moral issue rather than as an emotion. And when morality is introduced, it becomes about judgement and predisposes us to take other actions.
One interpretation about trust is that the emotion of trust allows us to coordinate action with others. [2] If you trust someone, you are more willing to interact with them. Sustained interaction like this will lead to greater trust and more possibilities for coordinating action.
When you look at trust from this linguistic vantage, as a means by which we coordinate action with others, trust becomes a tool from which to make decisions. It is a powerful tool, to be sure, and requires careful understanding of how it can be used effectively.
There are three components of trust to take into account. Knowing these components, sharing them and creating awareness of them within a team will engender trust.
- Sincerity
- Competency (Capability and Capacity)
- Reliability
In an earlier post, “Are You Committed? Or Compliant?,” I mentioned how trust is a very necessary prerequisite to being committed. By breaking down trust as being composed of these components, it is easier to work with it as a tool and help your team make commitments.
Building Trust
Commitments require trust and trust is built on further commitments; it’s a cycle! The more frequent and the more successfully your team interacts with others, the more trust is built.
If you are in a leadership role (or are developing one), building trust is the crux of an efficient and productive team. With a foundation of trust, the team can move on to greater and more effective commitments.
The photo above of a pedestrian crossing in Shinjuku seemed appropriate to illustrate this concept of trust. If you look closely, there is only one individual in focus and to me he looks a little forlorn, lost and without trust. All around him is the hubbub of people.
If he were a member of your team how would you describe his level of commitment and trust?
Trust begins by understanding how commitments work, what effective requests and offers are and the promises and declarations you and your team make. An environment of trust in a team predisposes the team (and the individuals within) to make decisions with deeper understanding that may result in big dividends further down the road.
References
- Newfield Network. (2011). On Moods and Emotions.Boulder, CO: Echeverria, R.
- Newby, D. 2013. An Introduction to Ontological Learning. 25-26