Trust. One tiny word. It is easily overlooked. But without trust, the house of cards that is an organization collapses.
Trust is a powerful word with many different levels. Before I discuss the impact of trust, let’s first discuss these levels. Here’s how Carol Kinsey Goman presents it:
Trust in oneself and the value of your contribution — does a team member feel like the team benefits from their opinions and insights?
Trust between team members — team members trust each other to do their best for the team
Trust in the team’s leader — team members trust the leader to do their best for the team
Trust in the importance of the work — do team members feel there’s a compelling reason to do the work?
Leadership’s trust in employees — leaders trust the team members to do their best for the team
Trust in the collective genius — does everyone on the team think none of them is smarter than all?
These 6 elements don’t discuss the (important) relationship between a team and its stakeholders. This is why I would like to add the following elements of trust:
7. Trust in the stakeholders to play their part — do the team members trust the stakeholders to act in good faith?
8. Stakeholders trusting the team to do well — do the team’s stakeholders trust the team to do well?
All these levels of trust are important. For example, when the trust between team members is high and the trust in the mission is solid, a team may still struggle when they don’t trust their leader. Or when this leader doesn’t trust the team.
You need all the information at hand to make the decisions on what to do next. In a complex environment, this is vital. This requires a minimum level of trust. Trust between team members and trust between the team and its stakeholders. If there's insufficient trust, teams are set up for failure. The organization will struggle hard to be effective.