TRUST

When there is too little trust in the environment and too much fear, a toxic work environment can develop. Poor performance, high turnover, problem employees, the tension between teams, burnout, political infighting, and lack of commitment — are all symptoms of a broken culture.

Victor Frankl said: “Pain is only bearable if we know it will end, not if we deny it exists”. Trust in teams and in our personal space can only be developed when you are aware of it, acknowledge it, and want to do something about it.

When we deal with people, we want to feel safe, even if we ourselves feel a bit insecure. We want to know that other people will not hurt or take advantage of us. We want to rely on others. If you do not experience trust, you will not engage fully, and will either say the minimum or not be open about problems.

Trust is a vital part of human relationships, without that, no sustainable commitments can be formed. Trust is also an emotional brain state where we interact with courage because we feel safe to take a risk. Over time, credibility is being built where we can rely on future behavior.

The benefits of building trust are more than obvious. Trust brings down our anxiety levels which means better health in the long term. Quality decisions are made faster.

Renowned speaker Brene Brown summed it up with the acronym “BRAVING.” She explains it as follows:

• Boundaries: “I trust you if you are clear about your boundaries and you hold them. And you’re clear about my boundaries.  “There is no trust without boundaries.”
• Reliability: “You do what you say you’re going to do over and over and over again”
• Accountability: “I can only trust you when I make a mistake, I am allowed to own it, apologize, and make amends.”
• Vault: “The vault is not just about the fact that you hold my confidences. It’s that, in our relationship, I see that you acknowledge confidentiality.”
• Integrity: “It’s choosing courage over comfort; choosing what’s right over what’s fun, fast, or easy; and practicing your values, not just professing your values”
• Nonjudgment: “We think we’ve set up trusting relationships with people who really trust us because we’re always there to help them. Buy, if you can’t ask for help, and they cannot reciprocate that—that is not a trusting relationship.”
• Generosity: “If I screw up, you will make a generous assumption and check it out.”

Please feel free to contact Willie Snyman at 082 456 1418. I specialize in coaching business leaders and employees to harmonize working relationships. Together we develop effective solutions for sustainable growth.