Building trust in the workspace

Image courtesy of "The Jungle Book, Walt Disney Productions"

When I think of trust, I always visualize the scene from The Jungle Book where the snake Kaa roles his hypnotic eyes and entices Mowgli, “Trust in me!” There is so much symbolism in that scene. Serpents are believed to be representations of poison, vengefulness and vindictiveness – the exact opposite of trust.

This made me wonder: How do you build trust in the workplace, and is it automatically granted or earned? To trust, or not to trust: that is the question.

I came across this graphic portraying trust and its building blocks, and while I don’t know its origin, the boxes illustrate the components of trust.

Most of us have probably found ourselves in situations where we were faced with a new manager or, on the flip side, entrusted with the leadership of a new team. All of a sudden, you are working with people you don’t know, yet your common success depends on each other.

But, what if in your mind that new manager does not check off all of those boxes of trust as depicted above and you have to make it work to survive and keep that paycheck, or, on the other hand, you feel as if you are checking off all of the boxes, believe that you are completely trustworthy and yet some people on your team have their own agenda and will fight working with you tooth and nail? I have been on both sides of the spectrum.

Here are two scenarios I have experienced:

Scenario 1 – You are appointed a new manager

Reorganizations are common these days, especially in large organizations where leadership is constantly looking for efficiencies. I did the math, and over the course of 25 years in the corporate world, I counted 16 different managers. That’s an average of just over six months with any given manager, and meant a lot of trust-building.

It’s one thing to interview with your future boss and determine your level of trust in them, but when they are appointed to their position, you really don’t have a choice in the matter and can only hope for the best. Perhaps you conduct some research via Google, LinkedIn and your professional network for intel on that person’s expertise, style and reputation. After all, if they are now your superior, you want them to have the competence to lead, the character to care, and the objectivity to treat team members fairly.

At that first introductory meeting, you observe their demeanor, and during your first one-on-one, you pretty much decide if you can trust him or her. Future interactions will reinforce your intuition. Now, what if you decide that he or she is not your cup of tea? What if something makes you uneasy about working with this person, and you do not trust that they have your best interest at heart? Perhaps they do not recognize your past contributions or appreciate your personality. If you are feeling it, your manager is likely feeling it as well. And if you are lucky, they will initiate a conversation with you to address this and resolve it collaboratively.

Many years ago, I was not so lucky. I was once appointed a new supervisor who didn’t trust me and questioned my allegiance to him based on his dislike of my previous boss. He led me to believe that my quality of work wouldn’t measure up to his standards. He demoted me and insisted that I call myself an “associate manager.” Although I complied, I was eventually able to turn the situation around through hard work and proved my value in order to gain my new supervisor’s trust. Within three months I was re-established as a manager and received a salary increase.

While the scenario I described had a positive outcome, in my experience, these situations are often a “no-win” and bound to derail. Your superior has the upper hand, so you must decide to either stick it out until you’re able to sway opinions, or find a position where you can “interview” your next boss and establish that mutual trust…until the next reorg.

Scenario 2 – You are entrusted with the leadership of a new team

In this scenario, the roles are reversed, but the dynamics are very similar. As the leader of a team, you have the advantage of getting insights from your leader and the HR department. They will likely share their impressions and previous performance reviews of your new team members, and point out any red flags.

I once inherited an underperforming marketing department, and when my manager briefed me on the individual and team dynamics he basically wished me “good luck”. My position had been open for over a year, and everyone on the team had either interviewed for it or thought they had the qualifications to do my job. I had been hired to turn this group into a high-performance team, but I was not exactly welcomed with open arms.

Fast forward about a year, most of the team was turned over. I got to start with a clean slate, and hire and develop people who were ambitious, engaged, and fit the team culture. With the help of a professional coach, I built that high-performance team by including the team members in creating a vision, mission and norms. This is how we fostered trust in each other and succeeded as a team.

I later replicated this process at other organizations with teams of up to 65 people. It requires time, patience, and a lot of heavy lifting, but it is very rewarding to observe how much you can achieve when you trust your team, and they trust you.

Back to the question of whether trust is earned or given. Opinions are actually divided over this, and I don’t think that there is a right or a wrong answer. Synonyms for trust are belief and faith. By definition, trust is an intangible and while the complex flow chart above may capture its major components, the truth is that trusting someone comes down to our own feelings.

So if you find yourself in the situation of having a new manager, or leading a new team, trust your instincts first and foremost. Unlike the snake Kaa, coercing Mowgli to trust him, I encourage you to give that new leader or team a chance, by having an open mind and asking the question of each other “why should I trust you?” and collaboratively go from there. Good luck!

If you want to work with me as your career coach and discover how to build trust with a new team or a new manager contact me.