With my military background, I had the pleasure of being a part of some very dynamic teams and nowhere else does teamwork and more importantly, trust, matter more. In the military, almost every mission requires an enormous amount of teamwork and many times decisions have dire consequences. Success routinely depended on trusting your own training, and also trusting that of your teammates and their decision making capacity. We consistently performed drills and exercises that honed our skills, but I truly believe the ultimate objective was to solidify the trust between team members. In other words, our mission success depended on a lot of factors, but I believe none were as important as how much we trusted each other and the team as a whole. As I transitioned into the corporate world, it was readily apparent that cohesive teams are just as critical to company success, but I struggled with how little attention was given to building trust on a team. I don’t know why this is the case, but I suspect perhaps the connection between the level of trust on a team and the resulting performance has not been made or simply attributed to something else. Or perhaps, in the corporate world, performance is significantly easier to measure than trust and therefore it’s simply not a part of the consideration set. In every role now, I try to remind myself of the importance that trust plays in building a team that routinely performs at a high level and consistently overcomes obstacles, exceeds expectations and all members are reaching their full potential.
Unfortunately, I think we all have been a part of a team with very little trust. We have seen how dysfunctional this is, toxic even. The chemistry is simply awful. What results is a team where no one trusts anyone and each individual team member is only looking out for number one. There is little collaboration and training and support definitely do not come naturally. Every initiative is a struggle as team members don’t want to utilize the team or simply do not trust the outcome. This certainly doesn’t preclude the team from being successful, but if the goal is sustained high performance and consistently exceeding expectations, this type of team atmosphere certainly doesn’t lead to this. Instead, there is usually significant turnover and individuals not performing up to their potential.
What about the opposite? Have you been fortunate enough to be a part of a team where there is unconditional trust between members? It’s simply an amazing spectacle when teammates whole heartedly trust their teammates. No longer do the individuals think about their individual accomplishments, but instead begin to seek out opportunities to help and develop the team as a whole. No one is pointing fingers, or seeking recognition. The team is focused on a singular goal and perfectly aligned on how to accomplish it. When you trust a teammate, you are willing to confide knowing that confidence is safe. This deepens relationships and team chemistry. When a lower performing teammate is struggling, you don’t choose isolation or seek a replacement because that teammate may be struggling. Instead, you try to figure out how to help with performance. When you are 100% certain of the support and trust of your fellow team members, you are much more likely to take calculated risks. You don’t fear failure because you trust your team to have your back and this is what leads to real breakthroughs and the ability to not only meet expectations but exceed them.
Building trust can be extremely challenging and usually takes some time, but fortunately there are some ways to start the process and through consistent application, trust will inevitably develop.
Here are four ways to start building more trust on the team.
- Leading by Example – This is by far the most critical and important piece of building team trust. The leader or manager must demonstrate trust in each and every team member on a regular basis. This can be as simple as having candid conversations, being vulnerable to team members. The willingness of the leader to trust team members with information and thought processes goes a long way in building trust. Also, providing recognition when appropriate and to the appropriate levels is critical. Finally, the level of support the leader provides in times of failure almost always determines whether or not the team has truly arrived at the level of trust high performing teams require.
- Communication – More specifically, open communication. A leader must work extremely hard at creating an environment where all team members feel comfortable in sharing. Team members must be free to openly communicate both good news and bad without any fear of retribution. Team members must trust conversations with teammates and feel confident in sharing. Openly communicating success stories is important, but the willingness to discuss failures and how to correct is significantly more important. A team built on trust is much more comfortable doing this.
- Team Engagement – There is no better place to help build trust than outside of the workplace. This certainly does not need to be a specific trust building event and those sometimes have the opposite effect. Instead, it’s simply getting away from the day to day environment giving members a chance to know teammates on a much more personal level. Getting to a level or even better, two levels deeper, allows the team to better understand each individual member and how they fit into the overall team dynamic. It’s much easier to have a trusting relationship with a team member you know personally, not just professionally.
- Provide Challenging Opportunities – Do not be afraid to challenge team members to take on initiatives outside of their comfort zone and assign them. It’s vital you provide an adequate support system, but this provides a unique opportunity for the team member to deepen relationships and more importantly demonstrate trustworthiness to the broader team. Inevitably, the individual will have to lean on other team members to be successful.
This is by no means an exhaustive list and there are certainly many other ways to build trust on a team. The important part is that you absolutely make it a priority and continuously take an active role in its development. It is a process and there will undoubtedly be hiccups along the way, but I personally struggle to find anything more important when building a consistently high performing team than building trust. It is not easy. It takes a dedicated effort from the entire team, but the rewards are worth it. Not only will the results start to speak for themselves, but the team will be more engaged and every member will realize their full potential.
Todd Rupp
*Director of Category Leadership – The Clorox Company
*Title and company of the author reflect their position at the time article was written.
The opinions expressed here by guest bloggers are their own, not necessarily those of Stout Executive Search.