"Without trust, we don't truly collaborate; We merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team." Stephen Covey
Trust is a concept that we all think we understand. We can recognize when it is there or when it isn't. We generally agree that it is valuable, and yet trust is surprisingly difficult to define and create.
Trust is a two way street: a relationship, a mutual commitment to doing the right thing. It is particularly important for leaders to trust their people and be trusted by their people. With trust comes a culture of integrity, a climate of psychological safety, and demonstrated loyalty. However, saying you are a trustworthy leader seems to have a lot less power than showing you are a trustworthy leader.
92% of people would trust their senior leader more if they were more transparent about their mistakes. Additionally, 61% of people said not clearly communicating the reason for changes is what hinders leaders most from building trust according to a Trust Outlook report. People are looking for transparency, integrity, and consistency from their leaders.
Dr. Brené Brown describes this phenomenon in her book Dare to Lead and in her talk “The Anatomy of Trust”. She describes it as the marble jar analogy. She says the experience of trust like a jar – people can add to it (add marbles) or empty it (take marbles). Dr. Brené Brown, Dr. John Gottman and other relationship researchers have come to a surprising and similar conclusion: trust is built in the little moments.
A former mentor once introduced me to the phrase “T the P” or rather, trust the process. She encouraged me to have faith that if I let others do what they are hired for, let leaders lead, let processes unfold, it would all work out. To be honest, I am pretty mediocre at “T’ing the P” but if nothing else it has become a helpful work litmus test for me. In fact, the moment I knew it was time to depart my last job and begin seeking other opportunities was when I no longer had faith in the direction and decisions of leadership, when I could no longer “T the P.”
Trust allows me to engage fully, energetically, confidently in my work. It means that I can focus forward without constantly watching my back. It means that I can reciprocate trust with commitment, integrity and drive.
When I no longer had faith in the people and decisions leading my work, my desire to stay in that role began to erode. Eventually, I left.
While these fallouts from low trust have real business consequences, there are some instances where the consequences are much, much greater. Perhaps one of the most notable outcomes from a disruption in trust is that of The Challenger shuttle. On a brisk January morning in 1986 The Challenger shuttle launched. 73 seconds after lift off, the shuttle exploded, killing all seven crewmembers on board. A terrible tragedy and defining moment in history, the Challenger explosion remains etched in the memory of many.
Sadly, this tragedy could have been prevented. In fact, engineer Allan McDonald attempted to do just that. McDonald, who worked for Morton Thiokol (the contractor responsible for the booster’s rockets) expressed concern about the safety of the rocket, citing the potential for an explosion due to the weather’s impact on the O-ring gaskets.
This was not the first fracture in trust at NASA. Reports indicate engineers and other workers had shared safety concerns and been dismissed in the past. This time, McDonald and his team decided they could no longer "T the P."
In a conference call with NASA the night before the launch, McDonald and his engineering team refused to sign off on the launch. Despite this, NASA moved forward with the planned mission, in part as a result of the pressure from executives to meet the record-breaking goal of 15 shuttle launches in a year.
“Under intense political pressure, it’s easy to cave, to say you’ll play ball…[McDonald] didn’t do that. He assumed personal risk to do the right thing,” Dr. Maier, leadership researcher, consultant and co-author of McDonald’s book shared.
To be effective, leaders must align their actions with their words. Trust is a reciprocal commitment to doing the right thing. In that moment, NASA did not lead with integrity. McDonald did.
NASA has spent decades rebuilding trust, and will never be able to restore the lives lost and impact their decisions have had.
Most leaders do not have the lives of seven astronauts in their hands, but all leaders have decisions to make that have real impacts to those around them. Through a commitment to transparency, integrity, and consistency at the day-to-day level, leaders can build trust through small moments.
What small moments have you invested in today?
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