Building trust is only half the story – it’s how you maintain it that matters

By Paul Peter Tak

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So often, leaders and companies talk about building trust in their organizations, through the work that they do and amongst each other. However, building is only the beginning. What I’m just as interested in as a leader is how to maintain that trust through the actions each of us takes, no matter how small.

Because you can’t take trust for granted, you need to work at it every day. As every person who has ever worked within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries knows instinctively, it’s very difficult to win back trust and integrity once you’ve lost them.

At Candel Therapeutics, the recognition and endorsements we’re getting demonstrate how trusted we’ve become in a short period of time. We’re filling in the scientific gaps for our next-generation immunotherapies, getting external validation through articles such as that recently in Nature , constantly making positive steps in our clinical trials that are being welcomed by regulators and stakeholders.

For instance, just a few weeks ago the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track Designation for CAN-3110, so that we can accelerate our efforts to improve cancer survival rates and, even in a single injection, hopefully offer a standard of care that surpasses any conventional treatment.

It’s a pivotal year for us, with six anticipated data readouts across three platforms, including crucial information in our lung and prostate cancer trials. I’m convinced that with every piece of new information that emerges over the coming months, that trust will strengthen.

However, I’d like to give you a glimpse about life inside our company and how we ensure that trust is both our fuel and our shield. It fuels the success of our work so that we can develop treatments that will transform people’s lives across the world. And it shields us from the external noise, speculation and scrutiny that can sometimes swamp that work.

First, we’ve created a safe environment in which each of us is encouraged to be as open as possible. It takes courage to express and confront that honesty but it leads to healthier outcomes. As teams, we need to share information, pick it apart, ask questions of each other, vigorously debate, push at the boundaries rather than rest on laurels, accept being challenged for not fulfilling obligations. This is what science teaches us – that to uncover solutions, we need to have an open forum in which we can fearlessly exchange opinion and feedback. It can be painful but, when done constructively and with respect, it reinforces our trust culture and leads to better results.

Second, we express this openness within an egalitarian structure in which everyone feels able to shoulder responsibility, even if it’s not part of their job description or remit. Trust in each other is strengthened at Candel because we don’t sidestep these responsibilities, we just roll up our sleeves and get things done. Perhaps this harks back to my Dutch genes and, especially, memories of the ‘total football’ philosophy developed in the 1970s by some of the Netherlands’ greatest football stars (soccer, for my US friends and colleagues!).

Essentially, the nation’s dynamic winning mentality in the sport was a result of everyone sharing responsibilities. Though individual talents excelled, there were no prima donnas – even the legendary Johan Cruyff. Any player could take over the role of any other because pre-determined positions mattered less than the collective abilities of the team. Everyone trusted everyone else to make the right decision and choice because everyone felt enabled to adopt multiple roles. It’s a trait I’ve tried to instill at Candel – that the more responsibility you give people, the more likely they are to perform at the highest levels and the better we can compete and win, together. The more rigid the hierarchy, the more tribal the behavior and the more inflated the egos, the less trust there is. We operate not as single components but as a larger organism.

Third – and this is something we hardly need reminding about in our industry – trust comes from having a relentless focus on doing the right thing. We talk about that a great deal at Candel. The compass that guides our work and behaviors is not what the outside world is saying but our mission. The task we’ve set ourselves to develop better therapies for difficult-to-treat cancers, the journey we’re on, the obstacles we need to overcome, the concentration we need to deliver what’s right for patients and families who look to us for solutions. However, doing the right thing isn’t simply about that sense of purpose. It’s about the high standards and ethics that we live by. How we turn up, the way we talk to and support each other, the respect, understanding and empathy we show.

It’s connected to what I consider to be a fourth way of maintaining that trust. Don’t succumb to FOMO. The fear of missing out, or not feeling like one is a part of every single decision that happens, can have negative effects. In a high performing team, it’s not necessary that everyone is present for every decision. Meetings are not birthday parties, it’s OK not to be invited. Allow the space for others to present their solutions rather than everyone feel that they need to have influence over every key decision. Trust each other to do the right thing. Ask questions, for sure, but don’t feel the need to always exert control.

To be a great organization, you have to maintain trust through many small actions over an extended period of time. You can’t just assume people are going to trust you as a company because of the excellence of your work. It’s also about the behaviors you exhibit, the values you carry with you and the constructive openness you nurture. It’s also essential in ensuring that the patient remains at the heart of our leadership decision-making, as I’ve written about before .

The more trust there is, the greater your chances of individual and collective success, the more support you’ll inspire from stakeholders and, of course, the greater your ability to ensure that people live a life free of pain, hardship and fear.

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