CHAPTER 2 Building and Maintaining Trust

In engaging leadership, trust is the interpersonal care and intentional acknowledgment of individual values, motivations, and needs. Trust is the foundation of engaging leadership. Without trust, leaders cannot fully engage others because when individuals give their best and are fully engaged, they are also putting themselves at risk. They risk trying but failing, giving but not receiving in return, and caring deeply without reciprocation. Without a trusting relationship with their leader, individuals often think they have too much to risk to be actively and passionately engaged.

To be committed, passionate, and motivated, and to give the discretionary effort necessary to engage, individuals need to trust their leader to respect such efforts. Without trust, attempts to motivate, to take a people-centric approach to managing performance, or to emotionally engage others will all be futile. Distrusted leaders are consistently questioned and are the subject of much cynicism. Even when trying to act engaging, those who work with a leader they don‧t trust may wonder, “Why is my leader acting this way? What does he want? What is his motive?” Instead of feeling valued, individuals may feel used and suspicious. Simply put, engagement does not work without trust.

When trust is present in relationships, though, leaders and their colleagues thrive. They cooperate, share information and expertise, discuss issues openly, and work harder to meet expectations. These elements are the foundation of an engaging relationship.

PRINCIPLE

Trust is the foundation of engaging leadership.

In the context of engagement, trust is based on the relationships leaders build with others. Engagement involves passion, connectedness, motivation, and a willingness to work hard to achieve maximum potential. Those who truly want to engage must trust those around them, particularly their leader. Trust affects individual relationships as well as group or even organizational relationships. In a world of constant change, trust is the glue that binds leaders to those around them.

“Trust is like the air we breathe.
When it‧s present, nobody really notices.
But when it‧s absent, everybody notices.”

—WARREN BUFFETT, INVENTOR AND BUSINESSPERSON

Consider the following divergent examples of experiences related to taking on a new assignment. In the first situation, supervisor Josephina has shown a penchant for being self-interested. She constantly hides mistakes and downplays errors when it comes to her work. She loves to take high-profile assignments that make her look good. When an assignment with the potential to explode comes up, she delegates it to a staff member so that she can pass the buck if necessary. Everyone else on the team has experienced this. When she approaches someone about taking on a new assignment, their first question is, “What‧s wrong with the assignment that she doesn‧t want to do it?” No one trusts her to keep their best interests in mind.

In another situation, supervisor Jose has consistently demonstrated a genuine interest in making sure his colleagues are delegated high-quality assignments, asking for their opinion when delegating work, and recognizing tough assignments when they come up. As a team member walks into his office, Jose says, “I‧ve got a great assignment for you, if you want it. Do you have a few minutes to talk about it?” The team member does not first react by wondering what is wrong with the assignment. Instead, he or she thinks, “I know Jose is looking out for me. I wonder what this assignment is it sounds interesting.” His teammates trust Jose to consider their best interests.

Notice the difference between these two situations. When individuals trust one another, they are willing to open up, take chances, and give more of their discretionary effort. Implicit in trying to engage others is the notion that others will reciprocate and open up in return; they will share their thoughts, their motivations, and their dreams, and they will trust their leaders to take these personal elements into consideration at all times. While leaders may not base actions or decisions on these personal elements every time, they at least recognize them. This recognition and acknowledgment increases trust.