The Leading Edge Newsletter

In Boss We Trust... or Do We?

New results from L.E.A.D. show the profound importance of trust in engaging people and directing their energies toward common goals. Trust needs to be at the epicentre of the relationships between different groups in an organisation in order for them to flourish.

According to the views of employees from a range of organisations across Australia and New Zealand, the critical ingredient in being able to successfully bring out the best in people is TRUST:

• Trust in the leaders that they have a plan (certainty)
• Trust in the plan itself (familiarity)
• Trust that the plan will work to protect the interests of the organisation and its people (confidence and empathy)
• Trust that people are being told the full story in such a way that they can recognise their role and play their part (communication and responsibility-sharing)
• Trust that the people they are working with have their best interests at heart (loyalty)

In organisations generally, but especially in smaller organisations, employees and frontline managers have a high degree of trust in their leaders – they truly believe they will be led out of the darkness towards the light – that the leaders will help by showing the way that all have helped to identify and create.

When asked about trust of various forms in the L.E.A.D. survey...

• 97% of employees felt trust in leaders was very or quite important in engaging them in their organisations

In this context:

• 77% of employees had a great or moderate degree of trust in their leaders to deliver on strategies for the future
• 70% of employees had a great or moderate degree of trust in the communication they receive from their organisation
• 79% of employees had a great or moderate degree of trust in their immediate manager or supervisor

The new paradigm for organisations and leaders is to build on this trust through inclusion – sharing the load, weathering the storm – TOGETHER. Organisations will only succeed by fulfilling the needs of their people and rewarding the trust shown through difficult times.

Five actions you can take to build on trust

What can you do to build on the trust that exists in your organisation?

1. Get in touch with the needs of the people in your organisation – understand what motivates and engages them.
2. Increase and maintain communication with them.
   a. Stay in tune with their expectations.
   b. Identify how you can adapt the organisation to support them.
3. Assess the foundations of relationships in your organisation – are the parameters of trust in good shape? Do they need some work?
4. Articulate what motivates each individual and explore how best they can play a role in the organisation’s future.
5. Engage each individual with their personal plan and seek their commitment to execute at an individual, team, and organisational level.

Go on, trust them and the trust will be returned accordingly!

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