What’s Trust Got To Do With It?

Does building trust with your direct reports really matter? I was confronted with this question in a seminar for new supervisors that I was facilitating recently. From the moment I saw the perplexed look on one of the participant’’ face I knew I was about to get interrupted. This moment stood out for me because, while I normally do not prejudge the level of participation I can expect from any of the attendees, at some point early in the session you can almost always tell those who are not going to offer a comment or ask a question all day long—regardless of the size of the class. It was a pleasant surprise when this participant spoke up.

I was elaborating on the importance of developing “healthy working relationships” as one of the pillars of great leadership, and that building trust and credibility with your direct reports was a key ingredient in that process. I was mid-sentence when the gentleman’s hand finally went up.

I gave him my attention and he proceeded to share the reason for his perplexed look. Just two days prior to attending the seminar, he had been instructed by his own direct supervisor that he was not to worry about trying to build trust with his employees. In fact, he was told that it did not matter at all whether his direct reports trusted him or whether he trusted them. Trust was not to factor into how he supervised. He was only there to get them to do their jobs—end of story!

In the ensuing exchange, I respectfully told him that his supervisor was dead wrong and helped him understand that mutual trust was the bedrock of every healthy, professional working-relationship. I further emphasized that showing his direct reports he cares about their professional success is a terrific way to begin to establish trust. The saying, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care,” holds true in this instance.

In his book, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," Patrick Lencioni identifies what he refers to as five natural traps teams fall into that causes them to be ineffective:

1. The absence of trust
2. Fear of conflict
3. Lack of commitment
4. Avoidance of accountability
5. Inattention to results

He further suggests that while the absence of trust can cause teams to be ineffective, the converse is also true, because trust is the foundation on which healthy relationships are formed. With trust, it is possible to build an environment where people experience psychological safety and can display vulnerability without fear of repercussion.  It is also possible for individual team members to enter into productive conflict with other team members, while maintaining a comfort level for committing themselves to tasks and to holding each other accountable. This is because they trust that team members will speak up and not just try to show them out or throw them under the bus when things go wrong.

As a member of the team, supervisors must understand that without trust, teamwork is all but impossible. Conversations with team members may become suspect. This may result in individual team members avoiding necessary conversations for fear of being misinterpreted or misunderstood. Without conversations, we cannot build trust. Where there is no trust, there is no relationship, and where there is no relationship, it is hard to gain influence. Without influence, it is hard to lead because leadership is influence.

The truth is, that all these things are inextricably linked together with trust as a foundation. It was fun to watch the light bulb come on for this gentleman as the day proceeded and I kept making the case for trust in leadership. 

What do you think? What has been your experience? Does it really matter whether your employees trust you, and vice versa? I would love to hear your thoughts.