Trust is the most important currency at work. As Patrick Lencioni mentions in his book ‘Five Dysfunctions of a Team’- “Teams who lack trust conceal weaknesses and mistakes, hesitate to ask for help, jump to conclusions about the intentions of others, hold grudges and dread meetings.”
So, how do we build trust?
The first thing to keep in mind is that it’s a journey, not an event and every journey takes time and patience. In my experience of working with multiple functions across different industries, the following things work the best:
- Before people trust, they need to know each other
Be genuinely interested in knowing people deeply and allow them to know you; this involves moving from questions like “what are you watching on Netflix these days?” to “what makes you really happy?
- The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them
And it’s not the best way-it’s the only way which is paved with a mix of satisfaction and regret but the satisfaction obtained from a few outweigh the regret from many. Rather than saying “Trust me”, start with “I trust you.”
- Be appreciative, empathetic and consistent
“Appreciation is the key which opens the lock for constructive criticism” as it shows that you are a person who appreciates when something goes right and is ready to give constructive feedback when it doesn’t.
- Be vulnerable
Being vulnerable doesn’t mean crying your heart out before everyone, it’s about not hiding our human side and giving others a chance to relate to you as a person which goes beyond a manager, colleague or direct report.
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