In the modern world, many people struggle to trust. There are some good reasons for this. Our economies are weak, much of our world is in turmoil and the mass media keeps reminding us of the threats that could be just around the corner.
But while it’s understandable, I think the inability to trust is a real loss, both personally and professionally. In this post I’ll explore some of the key issues related to trust: how it works, why it’s hard to do and why it’s more important now than ever.
Why does trust matter?
Humans are fundamentally social, we need other people in order to survive and thrive. For that reason, trust is a liberating experience. Willingly giving responsibility to someone else allows you to conserve energy and to perform at your best. What’s more, trust is self-perpetuating. Every time you hand over authority and get positive outcomes, your confidence in other people will increase.
In most cases, demonstrating trust will also bring out the best in your employees. People who are constantly monitored may tick all the necessary boxes, but they will rarely go above and beyond and they certainly won’t feel free to take risks. On the other hand, trusted employees are eager to prove that they deserved that act of trust and are more likely to achieve as a result.
Why is it difficult to trust?
The benefits above sound pretty obvious, right? So why do we struggle so much to realise them? While there are many possible definitions of trust, when questioning why it’s so difficult to achieve I think that this is a useful working definition: trust is giving opportunity or control to another person, even when you know it might cause you harm.
How you understand this depends on which side of the equation you’re on. If you are not feeling trusted by a colleague or manager, try not to take it personally. It probably has nothing to do with you specifically, but is rather a product of your colleague’s own anxieties about your project. Instead of lashing out, remain steady and competent and provide top-quality results.
If you are a manager and struggle to trust your employees, you have to take responsibility for the issue. If nothing else, you’re liable to neglect your own work when checking on that of others. Try to assess your feelings, discover the source of your anxiety or face the past experience that is causing your inability to trust.
Why is trust especially important in today’s workplace?
In the past, the office was a lot like the classroom. Everyone stayed in the same place and the manager could keep an eye on the employees to make sure they were on track. That’s no longer true. An increasing number of workplaces are offering flexible work arrangements to employees, either to facilitate better work-life balance or to cut the costs of running an office. Either way, virtual workplaces rely even more heavily on trust. If your team will be working remotely you need full confidence that they can still achieve positive outcomes and they need to know that they aren’t seen as liabilities.
In my next post, I’ll look at the practical steps managers can take to promote stronger relationships of trust among their teams.
Until next time
Julia
