The Long Road to Trust

Trust is one of the easiest things to lose and the hardest to earn. It is like a bank account with individuals depositing and withdrawing confidence in a lifelong series of transactions. Money may be the determinant of value in the business world, but everything would come to a grinding halt if trust collapses. As a leader and coach, we must maintain trust in our businesses. 

It is a difficult time in the business community. Businesses are cutting budgets to hoard cash and control in anticipation of a possible recession. Companies attempt to flatten organizations by cutting staffing levels. CEOs justify returning people to the office by using ancillary evidence and falling real estate prices, breaking the promise of remote work. It creates feelings of anxiety and distress. I feel those emotions regularly, and I struggle not to inflict them on family and friends. 

According to Sandra Sucher from the Harvard Business School, much of the anxiety is the breakdown of trust between business leaders and the workers who create the value. According to Sucher, “Leaders of all kinds…are failing some of the expectations people have for how they should be treated.”  The most significant disconnect is working from the office. Hybrid working plans are a hodge podge with people coming into the office to get on electronic meetings, which they could have taken from the home. Double standards applied to those working in the office and remotely create further resentment in mixed work environments. Double standards for workers and managers reveal a deep corruption in a business where workers see leaders looking after themselves instead of the entire industry. Many people in business have forgotten that rank has responsibilities commensurate with privileges.  

As agile practitioners, we are in a difficult position because we must build trust in organizations where it has been repeatedly violated. Our principal duty is to communicate openly and honestly. Listen to the challenges of others and be truthful. From that point, business people begin to increase the deposit of trust in the organization.  

It is going to take a long time to happen. Employees are tired, and the aftermath of COVID-19 has forced employees to change their priorities. Business priorities need to shift if organizations are to remain profitable or collapse into a puddle of mud. I have worked at two organizations where I witnessed this happen. Self-awareness, trust, and empathy are the only ways to escape this spiral of trust debt.  

Until next time.