Everybody loves the story of a superhero. The best superheroes are strong and powerful. They can overcome any challenge and obstacle that gets in their way. No matter the villain, the superhero always comes out on top.
Our favorites have superpowers like flight, invisibility, speed, and strength. But, none of these superheroes have the power of trust - yet we still trust them! What is their secret?
Trust, unlike a superpower, isn’t something we’re born with or magically receive after getting bit by a spider. Instead, trust is earned. The role of trust in organizations is evident in every department and isn't ignorable.
Let’s look a little deeper at the role of trust in organizations.
At BCWI, we have adopted the International Association of Business Communicators definition for trust. Trust is:
“the organization’s willingness, based upon its culture and communication behaviors in relationships and transactions, to be open and honest, based on the belief that another individual, group, or organization is also competent, open and honest, concerned, reliable, and identified with common goals, norms, and values. “
This definition highlights the two-way nature of trust, meaning both parties agree to be open and honest. Trust is built when culture, communication, and behaviors are reflective of the promises made.
In its simplest form, organizational trust is assurance, confidence, reliance, and dependence. It requires a great deal of faith to trust. And lately, it seems like no one is trustworthy. In a culture where trust is easily broken and hardly earned, your employees are naturally going to be distrustful of your organization.
Let's look at how the role of trust is fundamental to different areas of organizational success.
Employee engagement and trust go hand in hand. Trust is rooted in relationships and communication.
As author Stephen M. R. Covey writes,
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
Here's an example of this. BCWI Certified Organization CareNet utilizes a ‘no-look pass’ analogy to promote trust within teams. In this analogy, team member A has to trust that team member B is going to follow through, without dropping the “ball.” Vice versa, team member B has to trust that team member A won’t throw until the team member is ready. Leaders ask questions and implement safeguards to assess if the flow between team members is working. Gaps in trust between team members or departments are immediately addressed.
When trust is healthy, this kind of relationship between teams promotes high employee engagement, better communication, and higher productivity.
Specifically, Harvard Business Review reveals “compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report:
If you want to have an engaged workforce, trust is crucial to success.
The role of organizational trust is a key factor in Inspirational Leadership, one of the factors we use to identify Flourishing Workplaces as part of our Employee Engagement Survey.
Inspirational Leadership defines the authenticity of the leaders’ Christian faith in action. Inspirational Leaders model the behavior of Jesus and lead with similar characteristics.
Since trust is two-way, team members expect leaders to be trustworthy, respectful, and easy to follow and to look for gaps in trust, and promote unity and understanding. Leaders expect employees to follow through on responsibilities and commitments they have made.
In the past, many Christian leaders and organizations have assumed trust as part of corporate vision and “Christian values.” However, as the moral failures of Christian leaders who were once thought trustworthy continue to make headlines, there is a degree of skepticism within some of the faith community towards leaders because they’ve been burned before.
We have damaged our own reputation by not prioritizing the role of trust within our organizations. As people of faith, we are held to a higher standard; only we are accountable for our actions. We must do everything in our power to rebuild broken trust and foster cultures where trust is foundational to every decision and action.
Practically, what does trustworthiness look like? How can we be leaders that foster cultures of trust?
First, let’s look to Christ. Since our relationship with Christ is built on faith and trust, we, as Christian leaders, must model our behavior accordingly.
Jesus leads with love at the forefront. From our love, the trickle-down effect is evident.
“In our relationships, love shows empathy, then empathy leads to understanding, and understanding leads to trust, and then trust leads to influence.” -Boyd Bailey, author of Essential Habits of Relational Leaders: Building a Culture of Trust. Quote from The Flourishing Culture Podcast Season 5, Episode 29.
Modeling our lives after Jesus is what he asks of us, but we also need to give ourselves grace. We aren’t perfect and never will be.
This is why fostering a culture of trust, especially in Christian workplaces, is so crucial. At a minimum, our people should feel safe enough to come to us about concerns they have about the workplace, the strategy, even our personal shortcomings.
As we begin to recognize our role as leaders in building trust, we must also recognize common areas and ways trust can be broken. Looking for these warning signs is a good first step when addressing trust concerns within your organization.
Because trust can easily break, we must evaluate every decision through the lens of trust in efforts to maintain and promote trust within our organizations.
When trust has been broken, as it inevitably will (we aren’t perfect), there are a few ways you can rebuild and move forward.
It’s clear - the role of trust in organizations is evident in every area of your organization and its success.
Trust matters to all stakeholders of your organization - not just your employees. When consumers trust organizations, they are stronger buyers and advocates. When employees feel trusted, they are more positive and productive. When the market trusts your organization, you’ll see increased business or advocacy and positive press.
As Christian leaders, we must put in the work to achieve trust with our teams, foster it as we grow together, and rebuild quickly after its’ been broken.
High-trust organizations see higher employee engagement and satisfaction, productivity, and results, and employees want to work with leaders who are genuinely trustworthy. The work might be challenging, but in the end, prioritizing trust will prove successful.
###