Build a culture of trust
Photo by Andres Ayrton from Pexels.
The first day of our Master’s degree program, at Personnel Psychology, we were told: “if you’ve ever heard someone say: ‘check your emotions at the door when you come to work’, you’ve heard the biggest lie about people at work”. We laughed and looked at each other knowing that we had heard the phrase once or twice before. But really, we laughed because we also believed it.
How often do we hear: “control yourself, you’re at work!”, “it’s not personal, it’s business”, “emotions have now place at work”, or worse, have you ever cried at work and felt so ashamed you wanted to quit?
The truth is: we have a belief, a thought, an emotion, and an attitude about EVERYTHING around us (whether we are aware of it or not). However, we are constantly bombarded with the idea that emotion has not place at work or to check our emotions at the door. What happens with this is that we expect people to shut down a part of themselves that
Is not shut down-able (there’s not off switch) and
Is also where creativity and innovation lie.
When we expect robots instead of humans at work, we lose trust…the worst thing we can lose before we actually lose our employees. So, leader/founder/entrepreneur/CEO take a second to evaluate your company’s culture. Does it reflect a culture of trust? Or does it reflect a culture of shame, fear, and disengagement?
What’s a culture of trust you ask?
In short, a culture of trust arises when “one party (in this case: employee, manager, CEO) is willing to be vulnerable to the actions of another (employee, manager, CEO)” and both expect each other to act in a way that benefits both (Klynn, 2021). So, as you can see, based on that definition, it is a leader’s duty first and foremost to build and sustain trust with the people they lead because employees are vulnerable to the actions of leaders and organizational policies.
What I see every day in organizations, especially young ones, is employees who do not trust the organization as a whole and leaders who wonder why their team is disengaged and not being more focused or productive. It’s sneaky, nobody wants to talk about it but it’s there: the issue of mistrust, fear, and disengagement.
So, how can you slowly build a culture of trust?
Understand the role you play in creating a culture of trust. It is not the employees’ responsibility to feel respected, safe, seen and appreciated at work – it is the leaders’ responsibility, especially for managers. Be self-aware and reflect: how might you be supporting or creating a culture of fear, shame, and disengagement?
Follow through with what you say you are going to do. I have seen the effects of leaders not following through – resentment builds and productivity decreases.
Communicate clearly. This seems easy enough but it’s tricky. How clearly leaders communicate with their team, partners and clients sets the tone for the work to be done and the expectations people will have regarding their actions.
Set and respect boundaries. Set boundaries for yourself and your work as a leader – you will model how others in your organization can do it as well. Also, respect the boundaries your employees have around work-life balance and willingness to share personal issues.
Apologize when you need to. Leaders are not perfect, don’t pretend to be. Owning when we do something that is not in alignment with our values or the organization’s values or make a mistake takes courage and builds trust.
Redefine how you provide feedback from extremely formal, once a year to informal but professional continuous feedback. How many people don’t hear “yearly review” without their stomach acting up and their palms sweating? It’s not because they are not open to feedback but because they are often blindsided by it.
A culture of trust is not built in a day. It’s built in those ordinary moments. One moment of connection here, another one there. Remember, emotions fuel action – for better or for worse. Our jobs as leaders is to create a container within our organizations where employees can bring their whole selves to work – their bodies, their minds, and yes, their heart – and harness their emotions to fuel focused and creative action.
P.S. - Need help creating a culture of trust in your organization? Hop on a free consult here!
