Being trusted is critical and far from universal

Trust is the oft-forgotten foundation for achieving better outcomes, faster. I think I can can paraphrase Brené Brown as saying: "Trust travels at the speed of vulnerability." Yes, and I say, "The greatest accelerant for business success is trust."

Take a moment to think of the bureaucracy, safeguards and guard-rails that need to be put in place when trust doesn't exist. A simple example is the fraud avoidance relating to payables - At the top end, Adobe estimates that it costs USD$40 to process an invoice for payment. This is because no responsible fiduciary will allow invoices to be paid without checks and balances and infrastructure for approvals needs to be put in place.

One of the areas we can reduce this overhead (which appears not only in technology, but in meetings and detailed presentations ad nauseam) is in interpersonal relationships within the business. I am sure you have seen this when an executive brings in someone they have worked with in the past - There is an implicit trust, and things get done quickly and without question. There are two key factors here:

1) Known competence: The executive knows the new hire is competent from prior performance. This reduces the friction/delay in that person's initiatives/work product being checked/audited for completeness/accuracy/alignment.

2) Establish good intent: In our long-standing relationships, we know where we stand and have confidence in mutual motivations. This means that we don't need to second-guess intent. I see uncertain intent as a critical reason behind relationships that are tentative/conditional and therefore slow the wheels of business. Here in lies the opportunity:

The cost of not feeling safe at work

I have worked at three organizations where the cost of not having trust tangibly slowed things down, and here are the symptoms you might recognize in some of your relationships:

1. Prior to a big meeting you feel the need to 'take the temperature' of key attendees to avoid any landmines (Separate to the expected behavior of building a coalition for a proposed change which is needed).
2. When you join meetings with certain execs you are careful how to position your commentary because you are concerned about their reaction
3. There are certain people for whom you want to be below their radar
4. Meetings are held with far more participants than needed to 'cover all bases' (A euphemism for ensuring no single person is held accountable)
5. There are frequent complaints about the time it takes to make a decision due to multi-layered bureaucracy.
6. Obvious solutions are not being presented due to allegiances or concern over the reaction of certain parties
7. You are not sure what people really think of you.

The fast path to trust

Vulnerability may sound like a new-agey thing to be talking about, but it is critical to gaining trust and relatively easy to execute on. If you have been in the workforce for longer than 5 years you will most likely have been to an off-site or work trip that involved a dinner out or physical experience (hike/sport/etc) - The trust that flowed from those experiences is in large part because we expose more of whom we really are - It is during these times that we share things like our personal story, our home situation, the fact that you are scared of heights etc. These enhanced personal connections create tighter bonds, which in turn generate the feeling of implied good intent and manifest goodwill.

When you show vulnerability it gives others permission to do the same.

Aside from in-person, unstructured events, here are some best practices that I see break down the barriers:

• Start meetings with a check-in: Start meetings by letting people know how you are doing - It breaks down barriers: "Hi all, before we get started, just wanted you to know that it was my birthday on the weekend and so I am feeling super energized as we head into the week. Thanks for the messages." Or it could be: "Hi all, just wanted to share that we had a health scare with my dad over the weekend, so I am not as prepared as I would like to be, but I will be fully present during the meeting."
• Schedule virtual/in-person coffee chats with no agenda: The hybrid world has removed the serendipity of a chat over coffee during the day. Re-introduce this by having a list of people you want to have a more trusting relationship with and schedule 'zero agenda' coffee chats to connect and just talk about what is going on for you.
• Managers - Be proactively thoughtful with outreach: Executive assistants have always ensured their leader has birthdays and significant life events recorded for direct reports. In the modern age, we can all do this by simply putting a recurring event in the calendar for these events so that you can leave a voicemail or send a text to acknowledge that you are aware and care. It is in fact my practice to sing happy birthday to my friends and colleagues, which is a great trust-building exercise because my voice is like a strangled cat and always elicits a chuckle in response.
• Have a single persona at work: Have you noticed that speakers on stage are often more formally dressed than the audience and speak using 'business language'? It is slowly changing, but the reason is that speakers are concerned with appearing as the persona that they want to be perceived as. Someone who does a great job of vulnerability and authenticity is Jacco Van Der Kooij - Founder of Winning By Design. If you have ever seen him speak, you will know that he dresses comfortably and leaps on the stage like a rock-star (The last presentation I saw was at a venture conference to a group of CXOs and he started it with AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck'). His authenticity and positive energy draws you in and you want to know more. If you find yourself having a different voice depending on your audience, then there is an opportunity to improve trust by having the vulnerability of being you.

If you want some tactical and practical deep insight into trust at work, check out Patrick Lencioni's book, 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.