Trust in our institutions is generally accepted as being on a slippery slide to zilch. I am certainly one who has loudly carried that message.
It is easy to say, but what are the essential elements of trust amongst a group?
If you look up the wisdom of Dr. Google, you will see a library of articles, posts and opinion that varies in the words used, but when boiled down, are saying pretty much the same 7 things.
Trust that others have your back. When things go wrong, you will not be left to carry the burden yourself.
Trust in common values and objectives. This implies that the values and objectives are an outcome of the group, rather than having them imposed on the group. Objectives and values can be superficially common, as in a group put together for some specific task. However, those objectives and values will not necessarily be shared, which comes from the interactions of the group with each other over time.
Trust that we will keep each other’s confidences. Inability to keep confidences indicates a lack of integrity, poison to any level of trust.
Trust in our willingness to learn from each other. This is a two way street, and is not driven by artificial hierarchy such as position on the organisation chart.
Trust that people will do as they say they will do. No further explanation required.
Trust that we are free to express our views and ideas. Often, we refer to ‘psychological safety’ as if it were a fence constructed in some way to keep the nasties out. However, it is a fence only in our individual and collective minds, but is critical to building relationships.
Trust that we are able to be critical without being personal. We need to be able to be tough on our friends, without damaging the foundations of friendship and respect. Commonly I refer to this as ‘transparency’. It is not inconsistent with the requirement to be sure that confidences will be kept, it is more a foundation that enables those critical confidences to be shared and kept. Nothing is as corrosive as uncertainty, whether it be about your performance of a task, or how long it will take for the taxi to get to you.
In an HBR article from February 2019, the authors cited three elements a leader must have to hold the trust of those for whom he/she is responsible:
Positive relationships. Meaning a leader must demonstrate empathy, balance results with concern for people, resolve conflict as it occurs, and deliver honest and helpful feedback.
Good judgement and Expertise. People being led will be willingly led, as distinct from managed by someone who demonstrates good and consistent judgement in decision making, seeks and absorbs the opinions of others, and has the expertise relevant to the task.
Consistency. This is simply walking the talk, following through, setting a good example, and being prepared to do what is necessary.
To my mind, the 7 elements cited above contain these three, with a perspective that is a bit closer to the sorts of situations individuals find themselves in over the course of time. They are more specific, less generic than the three cited in the HBR article.
I recently heard a definition of the point at which you have a ‘group’ that is more than an assembly of people looking to achieve a defined outcome, which I like:
“A group is when you do not need to look around to know everyone is doing the right thing, but you do look around to see that everyone is OK’
Cartoon header courtesy www.gapinvoid.com
