Workplace Trust

The quality of relationships in life and business is based on trust.  Workplace trust is critical.  Conflict plagues colleagues who lack trust in each other.  When trust is low, the cost is high.  When trust is high, the cost is low and results show.   

The other day I was walking with a friend’s dog Pepper through the back acreage of our ranch.  She can’t be trusted off leash yet…or can she?  And how will I know unless I give her a chance?  I realized that this is parallel to trusting people in the workplace.  How will we know if they’re trustworthy unless we unleash them into the fields of possibility?  Unleashing something where results are critical is risky and scary, but how will we get to the desired results without giving trust a shot? 

I compromised with keeping her on a leash and letting her run free with the rest of the pack.  I tied a long lead and let it trail behind her so that if she got unruly, I could easily catch her.  I also stayed laser focused on her behavior, and used voice commands to entice her to stay with the pack, and follow me as the alpha female, the leader of the pack.  When I recalled her to ‘come’ and she did, she was praised.  If she didn’t, she was easily caught, reminded, and trusted again. 

 The principles here relate to trusting people with new responsibilities, delegating, or giving people a new freedom like working from home, or taking on an important client file.  We need to ‘just trust’ sometimes, yet stay focused on helping those people get an A+ at what we’ve entrusted them with. 

Trust is an action.  You give it out.  You put energy into it.  You also can receive and earn trust faster than you may think possible. 

Learn more about workplace trust in my short video:

Here’s 3 Tips: 

First, Trust yourself.  Only on a foundation of self-trust can you build authentic trust with others.  Invest in yourself to clear out old stories and patterns from your past where your trust has been compromised.  If you don’t, expect the issues to recreate new problems over and over again through different people until you find peace and resolution within. 

Be your word.  Do what you say you’ll do.  Whether that’s being committed to someone or something that you’ve given your word to, or doing what you said you’d do. I have to be my word, and do what I said I’d do, so I’ve learned to promise less.  I used to over extend myself promising service or favours because it seemed like the right thing to say or do in the moment, but I’ve learned my limits, and now, really think about what I’ll commit to before making promises I can’t or won’t keep.   

I get asked how to trust again after one has been betrayed.  My answer is to just trust.  The only way to trust when you don’t, is to dig a little deeper, and try again. You’ve got less to lose by trusting and being betrayed, than by not trusting and blocking the relationship you’re seeking.  If you’re insecure about trusting, make sure you’re talking about it with the person you want the relationship and trust with.  

Entire teams can move toward trust with authentic conversation and new commitments; so can families, couples and all relationships.  Everyone involved must be willing to engage with honesty and humility.  When people display their humanness, they’re admired and that also inspires trust. An article by Monster.com confirms that coworkers will go above and beyond for people they trust.

Implement these three tips for better workplace trust: Trust Yourself, Be Your Word, and Just Trust.  If you need some help, call me because you can trust that your greatest leadership day is with Penny Tremblay.