What we think...
Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Executives at Toyota will be feeling this acutely. A cartoon in The Times today shows a driver of a Toyota with a ejector seat lever next to him. From an icon of reliability to a standing joke is a mighty fall. MPs, bankers, and other groups have also seen trust erode recently – because people believe they have done irresponsible things with public money.
Trust inside business is a critical basis for achievement. Leaders have to earn the trust of their teams, and vice versa. A platform of trust will enable inspired performance, as opposed to “keeping our heads down”. Trusted people achieve more – they can carry out their endeavours within broad frameworks, innovating, dealing with customers, solving problems, and managing money, all without micro-management.
The old structures of command and control undermined trust. They kept information hidden, and it became a currency of power. That isn’t possible any longer, so in today’s connected world trust is the new currency of power.
My view is that a really successful business – one that outperforms competition – needs a compelling purpose and journey forward, using that context to set a clear framework for everyone to operate within. Leaders must demonstrate that they trust and are trusted. To do this, they need to clearly demonstrate two things. First, that they really believe in and support their team members to make the journey happen, and constantly reinforce that trust through the way they interact. Second, that the leaders themselves are trustworthy, delivering on their own promises. The recessionary environment has made this a lot harder to do, and if any of that trust has been eroded, now’s the time to rebuild it.