Trust, or Trust Not. There is no Verify.
Jeremy Nauert
International HSE Director, embracing excellence through principles of human nature
Okay, so that is probably a terrible distortion of the famous Yoda quote from Star Wars, but it was meant only to catch your attention.
It seems that nearly every day, there is a new catch phrase for executives and managers to adopt and deploy that will make them better at what they do. Some of these can actually be helpful distillations of otherwise complex or elusive concepts and practices. One example recently seen is the notion of “train your employees so well, that they could easily find a job elsewhere; but treat them so well, that they would never try.” This is paraphrased from the original quote, but it is a clear, concise framing of an entire business philosophy that should resonate with anyone trying to achieve excellence in their industry.
A few of these popular phrases, however, are far less valuable and possibly even destructive. A phrase that has been blossoming recently among US corporate leadership is “trust but verify.” The idea is that you should trust those who report to you, but as a good manager, you must also verify. I believe this concept is a destructive fallacy. When my employee tells me that something has been done, I have only two choices: Trust or Trust Not. The impulse to verify is exactly the same as the choice to Trust Not, and my employees know that. So if I tell them that I intend to Trust but Verify, then I am effectively telling them that I have chosen to Trust Not, and they will behave accordingly.
Without my trust, my employees will be much more likely to deflect responsibility and accountability away from themselves. They will hesitate to tell me the full truth. They may actively hide bad news. They will seek out trusting relationships with people other than me. In other words, they will be terrible employees (for me), and it will be my fault.
On the other hand, if I truly Trust my employees, and they feel and believe in this trust, their loyalty can be boundless. Their willingness to be open and engaged will blossom. Their investment in our shared success will be personal and uncompromised.
Trust is an extremely powerful force. It can be transformative in a work group or team. It is essential, really, for achieving the highest levels of performance.
Trust Not is equally powerful, but in all the wrong ways.
Sometimes choosing to trust those who report to us can feel risky. That’s because it is risky, and that is why leaders are expected to be courageous. Every once in a while, choosing to Trust will blow up in our face, and we will question our choice. But choosing to Trust Not (or “verify”) will strangle us and our team daily, persistently, irreparably.
So Trust, or Trust Not. There is no Verify.
Transforming Teams and Operations through Human-Centered Solutions | Keynote Speaker | Author | Pracademic
5 年Great post Jeremy. I’d add one point and it isn’t about individual verification but rather a need to recognise that within businesses we WILL drift and that needs to be caught somehow. This includes: - debriefs/AAR, not just looking at outcomes but how you got there. - audits which are there for learning and not just compliance. These processes also identify areas when drift has lead to innovation and adaptation and so can improve the business performance. Without a curious, learning mindset in place, then an organisation and its people will drift.