Trust, Leadership and Productivity

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships” Steven Covey

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The more I read about leadership theories, the more convinced I become that trust is the most important issue for success. Whether the subject of leadership is studied in military, organizations, family or any non-profit entity, trust stands out as the single most important matter that puts feeling, efforts and culture together to make positive change.

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Building trust consumes a lot of sincere effort and time. It is a project on its own, but I can erode very quickly if a leader does not have a strategy to nurture it for further growth.

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The absence of trust has many implications that are detrimental to the organization and the team. It slows the team in its pursuit to achieve organizational goals as the loyalty and motivation are significantly lowered.

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Low trust level encourages a centralized decision-making and defeats that concept of delegation. It goes without saying that many potential skills and expertise are also not recognized, and the work environment is deprived of creativity.

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Strategies in Building Trust

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“A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other” - Simon Sinek

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High trust brings productive relationships since trust is the primary factor that enhances productivity in any social setup or work environment. It fuels respect, recognition and reliability between the leader and his team, and amongst the team members themselves.

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It is therefore imperative that an organization invests in developing and maintaining a culture of trust for sustainable growth. Leaders play a pivotal role in enhancing trust with and amongst employees. They manage their discourse, select communication styles and exercise recognition to create a trust-based culture.

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Other roles leaders can play to foster trust in their work environment include creating a safe environment, transparency and authenticity, setting clear goals and expectations and open communication.

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One particular fact that contributes to the reinforcement of trust within the organization is leading by example. The leader must demonstrate values he/she preaches practically in his/her behaviour. This will raise the level of trust.

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Trust is the foundation of leadership. Through this, leaders bring value to their organizations, which manifests in excellent collaboration and communication, positive work environment, increased productivity and high employee engagement.