Building Trust

Image: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot

Trust in the workplace has been a hot topic for some time. At some level, we all know what it means to trust, and that trust is important. We have also seen the ‘fall back, I will catch you’ exercise for building trust in teams (usually on a sitcom where the catcher is distracted at the last second creating a predictable laugh-track moment). We can recognize when trust is lacking: micromanagement, not wanting to bring up bad news for fear of reprisal, overly burdensome red tape, etc.

What to do about it? In order to build trust, we must first understand it.  One thing that causes major problems is the normal kind of trust we have grown up with. It tends to be an all or nothing game. This blind trust leaves us vulnerable to betrayal, which will generally eliminate the possibility of regaining the trust. The problem with this trust is that it is often leveraged against us in matters that do not meet these criteria. Has anyone close to you ever said “Don’t you trust me?” when discussing a personal matter that is not a relationship killer (like your sibling borrowing your iPod?). 

We need a better definition of trust to work in our daily lives and relationships (including at the office). In The Speed of Trust Stephen M.R. Covey likens it to porn, by quoting Jack Welch: “I know it when I feel it.” Yet Covey then goes on to say it is confidence in another’s integrity and ability. In other words, you believe not only that they will do as they say, but they are able to do it. OK, I am all for keeping things simple, but does that definition give us any ability to take different actions? I think there is a better explanation.

Being a fan of Fernando Flores’ work I agree with his view that trust is a conscious assessment of another’s capabilities, commitment, and history of behavior, in a particular domain of action. Those last two are key. I may trust my ten year-old to color inside the lines, but not to drive a car, or cook without supervision. If I tell him no he cannot cook while I am out of the house, and he whines “You don’t trust me,” I have a foundation for an unemotional explanation: he has no history of behavior in that domain…he’s has not shown me he knows what to do to remain safe.

Flores & Robert C. Solomon’s book Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life, expands the explanation and how the mechanisms of trust work in the areas of emotion, mood and leadership. They call this “authentic trust.”  Russ Alberry reviewed the book on his website (highly recommended reading too):

The authors define "authentic trust" as a more complicated model, a type of trust that involves conscious evaluation and builds into the trust the possibility of betrayal. Authentic trust is when one takes into account the capabilities and history of the person being trusted, recognizes a risk, and makes the conscious choice to trust anyway…I think the definitions are useful. When one is reading them, they do seem obvious, but I think they surface a lot of unconscious assumptions. I was intellectually aware that trust is not something that has to stop at the first betrayal of the trust, but it's very easy, particularly in the grip of emotion, to fall back on treating all trust like simple trust.

And there we have it, a strong foundation to recognize how trust works, why it can fail, and how we can move to Authentic Trust, which is sophisticated, reflective, and possible to renew. Having said all of this I must recommend both books referenced above. Using Authentic Trust as a jumping off point, the programs and solutions proposed by Covey can be better implemented.