Trust: The Foundation Everything Is Built On

If I were asked to pick the single most important driver of successful relationships, teams, and organizations, I would choose trust. It’s the foundation everything else is built on.

Trust is the "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something". Sounds simple. But it's difficult to build, remarkably easy to lose, and - despite its importance - seldom nurtured or focused on.

Why is trust important?

1. Trust drives transparency. If you can’t trust that your comments will be taken at face value, with the best interest at heart for your partnership or the organization, then you will fear unintended consequences. So you say nothing. Without transparency, as Patrick Lencioni writes, in The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, you can’t have open and honest debate, nor benefit from the optimal solutions, accountability, and commitment that follows. Without transparency, the elephants remain in the room, never discussed, nor addressed.

2. Trust drives autonomy. The more an individual demonstrates that they follow through on their word, the more their manager can get out of the way, let the professional shine, and provide increasing areas of responsibility. Everyone wins. And autonomy, as noted by Daniel Pink in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is the top contributor towards motivation.

3. Trust drives relationship strength. If someone says one thing, then does another, you’re not very likely to rely on that relationship in the future. Problem is, that teams within organizations are highly interdependent - so if a link breaks, particularly at senior levels, that has very significant implications for all of the individuals that now have to take sub-optimal routes to avoid the fissure.

Alright, we get it. Trust is important. How do we go about building it?

1. Establish trust as a norm. Explain why trust is important, and ask for it to be shared amongst the team. Set the new standard, along with parameters for safe discussion. It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing this with one partner, a working team of five, or an organization of a thousand. You have the ability to make a difference.

2. Be transparent. Put your cards on the table for all to see. Clarify expectations to make sure everyone is on the same page. Talk straight, be respectful, and never skirt the thorny issues. It doesn’t have to be comfortable, but it does have to be candid.

3. Do what you say you are going to do. Just commit, clearly set expectations, and then execute. And, if events change and you’re no longer able to meet your commitments, despite your best efforts, communicate that early and honestly.

4. Hold others accountable. Once the new norms are conveyed, you need to ask yourself, and then others, what went wrong when they are not lived up to and offer public recognition when they are.

I put a lot of focus and attention on building trust and I’ve found it not only to be a very powerful driver of team success, but also a key component of personal integrity and principle.

I’m interested to hear about your experiences with trust - please share them in the comments.