Is Trust Important for Your Work Culture?
We all have dreams. Dreams for the future. Dreams about our success.
But what does it look like to bring those dreams to life?
Dr. Fred Johnson recently stated at our March Think Tank, "A dream you can do by yourself is just an idea." Leaders recognize that nothing happens by themselves. It takes a team. One study found that trust is the foundation of the most successful organizations. Trust increases teamwork and collaboration. It's essential when working toward a common goal. Trusting relationships will help you take action on your dreams.
This is why trust is crucial for building a healthy work culture that supports employee growth, engagement, and success. Trust empowers people to succeed; to take 100% responsibility for their performance and results. As a leader, you want your team to succeed and your team will overcome obstacles to enhance their leadership skills as trust increases. Trust influences every aspect of leadership. One study illustrates the monumental impact of trust. In high-trust companies, employees experience: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction in life, and 40% less burnout than low-trust companies. High trust assists leaders in developing more leaders, and emerging leaders learn by participating in the process. They learn by contributing and entering into a culture of positive accountability.
Building a Foundation of Workplace Trust
At InitiativeOne, we help teams learn how to create a safe environment. A safe environment encourages team members to share information openly and honestly progressing toward timely solutions. Members will be reluctant to share until the level of trust is sufficient. They will yearn for a feeling of safety. In a safe environment, information is not hindered. When leaders feel enough trust to share, solutions surface from consensus-driven leadership, making them accountable for each step during the problem-solving process.
Fear, betrayal, and a lack of productivity stem from mistrust. Trust is the opposite of fear. Fear represents the greatest threat to healthy communication. Because of this, people will not speak out for fear of repercussions. Defensiveness will grow as a result. Defensiveness is a fear-based protection mechanism. Fear, defensiveness, and finger-pointing can all lead to an unsafe environment with a lack of trust.
Trust is essential for a healthy work culture because it creates a sense of psychological safety, which is necessary for employees to feel comfortable taking risks, being creative, and contributing their best work. Leadership and trust are inseparable. When people trust each other, they are more likely to build lasting connections beyond work tasks. Until you create a foundation of trust, it's impossible to create momentum. It's impossible to lead without trust.
You can accelerate trust within your team. It takes hard work, but change is possible. Learn more about our Trust Accelerators online course and start building sustainable healthy trust as a team so that you can reach those lofty dreams together!