When I think of trust, things like integrity, faith, belief and confidence come to mind. As an employee I want to feel secure that I will be heard, understood and accepted. As an employer I want my staff to do the right thing, to believe in me and be confident in my decisions. Its the reciprocal nature of this trust that supports our business efforts and breeds success. Without trust it is hard to imagine that a business could succeed. After all it’s our human resources that are the key to success and as humans we need to trust and be trusted.
Why then is it such a challenge to maintain trust in the workplace? There are many sources for these challenges but the almighty ego is high on my list of culprits. In business, competition can be healthy or then again, not. When it is not, the ego chimes in creating malcontent and fostering a loss of trust. When trust is lacking in the work environment the business agenda can be easily overlooked. When trust is lost (or was never there to begin with) we risk losing the edge we need to thrive. I have had occasion to work in a variety of places where trust had ceased to exist. In fact sometimes my role is to help restore trust.
In my capacity as a coach I have the luxury of seeing a business from the 30,000 foot view. It is hard to figure where loss of trust begins (and it is unimportant as well because it requires that we assign blame, which does not help at all) but one thing is for sure, once trust begins to fade in one area of a business it tends to evolve into a widespread issue. You know how it goes; you don’t trust me so I don’t trust you and so on and so on. The bottom line is this: if you are fortunate enough to work in a trusting work environment, take the time to understand why it is that way and do whatever you must to keep it that way. If not, make every effort to restore trust. This means letting go of the ego, forgetting about trying to figure out who is responsible and getting back to the basics. Within a business each employee shares common goals much the same way that we share common goals in everyday life. As leaders we must be mindful of the needs of our employees as well as our business goals. We must respect that our goals are heavily dependent upon the way in which we utilize our human resources.
Fostering an environment in which trust thrives is an investment in your staff, your business and your long-term success. It is an investment you cannot afford to pass up. Trust is a two way process; it is as important to you the leaders as it is to the most subordinate of employees.
Whoever you are, be a role model; ensure that trust is relevant, viable and expected in your workplace. In turn you will be rewarded with the trust you desire as well.
To learn more about this author, visit Ed Drozda's Website.
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