Trust is the Foundation of Thriving Teams
Building a thriving, cohesive team starts with cultivating a culture of trust. As Peter Drucker famously said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast," underscoring that the foundation of any successful organization lies in its culture, not just its strategy.
Trust is central to this culture—it allows team members to feel confident in one another’s character and competence. Without trust, true teamwork is impossible, as members may hesitate to share ideas, ask for help, or take risks.
Leaders play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining trust, creating a psychologically safe environment where vulnerability is encouraged, and mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth. When trust and psychological safety are present, team members can collaborate openly, share knowledge, and innovate, leading to true transformation and long-term success. Relational trust helps to reduce the vulnerability that individuals feel when asked to take on tasks connected to change, and facilitates the safety needed to experiment with new practices.
Indeed, the speed and depth of transformation within a team is directly linked to the level of trust established.
So, how do we build or rebuild trust?
1. Use protocols to structure purposeful, rich, and authentic conversations. Protocols provide the guardrails for creating an environment that cultivates psychological safety and vulnerability-based trust.
Use an agreements protocol for any team that intends to work together on difficult issues, or a team who will be working together over a period of time.
Agreements may be added to, or condensed, with progress.
In the co-creation process, remember to include an agreement on how decisions will be made.
2. Use routines that support team members to relate to one another on a more personal basis to encourage empathy and understanding.
During meetings, use a check-in routine. Go round each member of the team as they respond to a given prompt, such as:
What is something that few people know about you?
What is taking your attention right now?
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?
3. Lean into high trust leadership behaviours. Stephen Covey talks about:
Character behaviours: talk straight, demonstrate respect, create transparency, right wrongs, show loyalty
Competence behaviours: deliver results, get better, confront reality, clarify expectations, practice accountability
Character and competence behaviours: listen first, keep commitments, extend trust
What will YOU do next to tend to trust with your team?
Discover more about our Leadership & Teamwork services
FURTHER READING:
Edmondson, A., The Fearless Organization - Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace to Foster Learning, Innovation and Growth, T. R., (2018) Wiley.