Foster a high trust environment

Description

Trust is the foundation that enables teams to create great results for the organisation. Without trust, teams can't reach their potential. Trust is an essential element of Psychological Safety which was found by Google's Project Aristotle to be the number one factor differentiating the highest-performing teams.

Trust can be defined as “Choosing to make something important to you vulnerable to the actions of someone else.” Trust is built slowly over time, Brené Brown uses a marble jar metaphor; “We can deposit marbles and build up our sense of trust or withdraw them and degrade that sense of trust through our interactions”.

Research has identified how establishing trust between people affects us.  There is a neurological reaction to trusting someone.  When we are intentionally trusted, even by a stranger, the brain produces oxytocin. The enhanced empathy enabled by oxytocin allows humans to quickly form teams and work together effectively.  

Rationale

There are several models and research articles that we have found helpful in understanding how leaders can help foster a high-trust environment. You can find links to these below.

• Trust and Purpose - Paul Zak

• The Anatomy of Trust - Brene Brown
• Performance vs Trust - Simon Sinek
• The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni
• Google - Project Aristotle
• Building Trust in High-Performing Teams - Mila Hakanen and Aki Soudunsaari
• Mayer, R. C., & Davis, J. H. (1995). An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust.
  

Related Principles

• Create the environment for people to thrive
• Maximise engagement
• Catalyst for change
• Involve those affected by change
• Create a Learning Organisation
• Provide an impediment removal service
• Maximise team empowerment and localised decision making
• Self-managed teams
• Self-managed Team of Teams
• Maximise Team autonomy