How every business is in the business of trust and what we can do to not mess it up?

Travis Kalanick’s ouster from Uber two years ago exposed their then culture of being a toxic, misogynistic workplace. When Dara Khosrowshahi took over, the first thing that he did was to send out an email to all employees saying that they may not have all the answers right now, but together they will build a better workplace. 

Cut to 2019 - Uber filed for an IPO (a long awaited one) in April. That in itself is a lesson in how when leaders and management allow unchecked bad behaviours so much so that it becomes the culture itself, the long term financial prospects of the company are hampered. Though the uber IPO was not a failure, the Uber CEO has admitted that their culture at times may lead to transgressions which in the future might continue to harm business and financials, like the recent scandal with self-driving cars shows.

Wow. 

Uber racked up $3 Billion in operating losses last year. So the biggest challenge for investors through the IPO is - how to look beyond those losses and find trust in what Khosrowshahi is pitching - that Uber is a platform that ties together transportation, food and logistics. 

But really what got me thinking about this whole trust thing is the multiple Uber rides I availed when in India earlier this month, exactly the week that California passed the landmark bill that will require businesses such as Uber and Lyft to hire workers as employees, not as independent contractors. Most drivers in Mumbai I spoke to were blissfully unaware of this – many are still trying to figure out what it is that they have at stake, how many hours a day they work and what do they think of the safety situation when it comes to app based cabs. 

And it all boils down to trust. 

A few months ago, there was a video about a Zomato delivery person that went viral. He was eating out of the delivery boxes and then replacing the seals. Well okay. This person could’ve been hungry. So much is the pressure of timely deliveries that people don’t have time for meals. But yes, the customer too isn’t getting what she paid for. And to top it off, it’s not hygienic or safe. 

Again - trust. 

Let me talk about something closer to home. On this India trip, I met a close friend of mine. When I met her earlier this year, she was all gung-ho about relocating to a new city, moving with her family to start working at this high-growth organization. It wasn’t a startup any more, but maintained its edgy, cool culture. Sheena was excited, I could feel it. This visit, not so much. She’s already looking out for another opportunity barely three months into the role. And what’s worse, she felt demotivated as if the workforce was somehow moving ahead and she didn’t have the skill set to cope. 

When we got talking about this, she spoke of the hidden power dynamics, and the invisible politics of the place. She was excited about the flat structure, the open door policy and the cross functional workgroup culture. But delivery on promise was hampered. The flat structure meant very little authority-based decision making, and collaboration was more often a product of influence than of values/ competencies or even common sense. 

The cross functional workgroups were groups of people who were friends and their banter often became disrespectful and inappropriate for an office setting. But apparently it was all with “due respect”. Sheena is struggling. And not because she doesn’t have the competency to work these situations, but because it is a blatant disregard of what was actually promised. 

Tryst with trust. Yet again. 

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What would have been different if there had been listening-in mechanisms in place? 

1. Kalanick may not have been ousted so unceremoniously if Uber leadership paid timely attention to the noise at the ground level. A forward thinking culture doesn’t mean it is okay being harassed or insulted. 
2. Zomato would have been able to save face if there was a mechanism where partners could be listened to when they cited logistical challenges with tending to their daily needs. 
3. Sheena would stay with the organisation if she wasn’t told that all of the banter was in good fun and that was the culture. This only furthered the misconception that she was the uptight one. 

What can organisations do to build listening-in mechanisms at the workplace? 

All the ideas about open door policies and feedback boxes and like counts for naught if nobody is listening at the other end. Also the listening has to be close looped. There has to be some action based outcome of the entire process of speaking-up and listening-in. 

What can organizations do to inspire trust in the system? 

Invest in people - Promoting people with no tactical knowledge of people management is throwing them at the deep end. Removing management layers doesn’t only make the organisation flat, it also makes fewer people responsible for a lot more. It means more collaboration, more conflict management, more influence based team management. And it can’t be left up to chance. The organization need to invest in leaders so that they are future ready to manage the workforce that works with them . This means that folks who manage people are taught to listen and to close the loop. Receiving feedback, managing emotions and facilitating dialogue are crucial to the speaking up and listening in process. 

Strip away the assumptions from every role - Every role comes with its own set of stereotypes, assumptions and expectations. Leaders are expected to have all the answers, the mid management are assumed to be the layer that manages operations, the floor staff are expected to focus on the actual deliverables. There are wide ranging assumptions about each role/ layer and that in turn leads to vesting those roles with invisible power that has no factual basis. To inspire trust, it is important to strip a role down to what they are expected to facilitate. Once that is done, the right information finds its way to you. When people are aware of what it is that your true influence or role is, you don’t falter on promises that they’ve assumed you to fulfill. It’s scary and silly the stories we tell ourselves in our head. To manage those, this part is crucial to the listening-in process. 

While there can be many mechanisms that enable people to listen-in, there also needs to be a process to work through all the information that you receive. Most conversations that need listening in as an intervention are emotionally driven and emotions could be momentary. As a leader, it is your role to figure out what to do with such information and use your skills to pare it down to the true information that an outburst can conceal. 

I am keen to gather your views and tips, especially your ‘lived experiences’ about what has worked for you in speaking-up and listening-in situations. Please drop me a note or #Hashtag a leader who you think has a valuable point of view.  #TheArtandScienceofSpeakingUp #SpeakUPandListenIN

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About the author:

My passion is to create opportunities and catalyse relationships that help us thrive! I believe that personal, organisational and societal change is an interactive development process and through my interventions I seek to build awareness and action across all. I have had the privilege to have coached and trained leaders and management teams in 40 plus countries globally and on all continents.

Over the last two decades, I have engaged with leadership development, L&D and talent management across the entire spectrum from diagnosis to design to implementation. Currently I run my own niche Executive Coaching Practice to accelerate the leaders path to success through my focus on #LeadershipBranding.

Drop me a message at [email protected] or to schedule a call with me please use : calendly.com/shivangi/15-mins-call

Here are 2 initiatives I have founded : www.thrivewithmentoring.com, a non-profit that catalyses women to women mentoring (currently present in 5 countries) and www.xponential.cc (through which I bring award winning leadership trainings such as Crucial Conversations and Power of Habit).