The power of trust
Trust is essential in all work environments but even more so in higher education because success requires buy-in from multiple constituencies and effective collaboration on campus. When a leader is not trusted, people tend to be suspicious, cynical, and uncollaborative. They will question motives, suspect hidden agendas, be overly critical, and slow down projects or even paralyze initiatives entirely.
When clients tell me about some of their employees’ undesirable behaviors, they tend to forget to ask themselves if they played a role in what happened. While I can’t deny that some people are complacent, don’t do their best, and can have a terrible attitude, I believe the majority of employees have a desire to do better, and would do better, if they were in a high-trust environment.
Employees who trust their supervisors to be transparent, to follow-through on their commitments, to lead, to make good decisions, to be fair, to keep people accountable, to communicate effectively, and to treat them well, are more likely to be motivated. They also tend to perform at a higher level, be more engaged, and have more loyalty. Since they don’t have to suffer from daily disappointments, discouragements and fears, they can focus their time and energy on doing quality work.
What it means to be trustworthy
Being trustworthy is far more than being honest. A person may value sincerity and take pride in doing no harm to others, and still create a low trust environment. Trust depends not only on leaders’ character but also on their competence. Trust can be earned or lost through actions that may not seem significant to the leaders, but are critically important to their teams.
When I ask higher ed. leaders if they believe they are trustworthy, they always say yes. They have a moral compass and don’t do things that would keep them up at night, so they think people know they can trust them. But interestingly, if I ask them if they trust everyone on their leadership team, the answer is no. When I ask them to elaborate, we discover they have many more standards and expectations than basic honesty before they can trust someone.
“We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.” - Stephen M.R. Covey
Behaviors that damage trust
Let me share with you some common behaviors in higher ed. that damage trust and as a result, decrease employee motivation, engagement, and performance. Sadly, leaders often think it’s “the culture” that creates particular dynamics and forget that they are 100% responsible for their own choices. For example, if the culture makes it acceptable for them to be constantly overwhelmed and not keep their word, they won’t try to do better. Or if the culture is to move at a slow pace and resist change, they will often shy away from acting like a leader and will let stagnation be the norm.
Poor time management
Not following-through on commitments, not giving people adequate notice to find an alternative solution and letting them down.
Assigning projects to staff members at the last minute, without giving them enough time to complete, or forcing them to drop everything else to meet the deadline.
Taking too long to answer emails or review and sign documents, creating bottlenecks, and forcing people to keep asking for the same things repeatedly, will hurt someone’s trustworthiness.
Indecisiveness
Being afraid of making decisions will cause people to lose trust.
Taking too long to make progress on projects will make employees question the leader’s commitment to these projects or ability to succeed.
Being easily influenced by others and changing opinions too often will make employees lose trust in their supervisor’s word.
Avoidance
Avoiding sensitive topics and leaving people in the dark make people feel unsafe.
Not keeping employees accountable and tolerating inappropriate behavior make leaders lose credibility.
Discomfort with advocacy and negotiation will make the team unable to trust they are in good hands.
Over-sharing
Confessing doubt, confusion, fears, and other challenges without providing reassurance that a strong plan is in place will make people lose confidence in their supervisor.
Talking about people in their absence will make employees worry about what is said about them when they are not in the room.
Being critical of the President, Provost, or other high-level leaders will make people worry about their supervisor’s ability to work well with senior leaders and represent their department with professionalism.
Not correcting problems
Making excuses rather than taking responsibility for one’s actions.
Saying “sorry” repeatedly about similar let downs but not correcting behavior is a sure way to destroy trust.
Ignoring conflict between employees and not helping them resolve issues.
Not reaching goals, not making improvements, and not delivering results will damage trust.
Being unfair
Not trusting others will make someone not be trusted in return.
Having favorites and treating people differently.
Not giving credit where credit is due.
Being vague or unclear and reprimanding employees for not meeting expectations that were never communicated.
Not truly listening to others.
How you can create a high-trust environment
Please don’t ever say you’re not good at answering emails, or you don’t like politics, or you’re too busy to follow-through on your commitments. It can be tempting to make excuses when nobody is keeping you accountable and you can get away with bad habits, but when you do, you hurt your own credibility and trustworthiness. Just because people don’t call you out on some of your behaviors doesn’t mean they don’t notice. Trust me, they do.
Start by observing your own behaviors and look for poor habits you wish to correct as soon as possible. Raise the standards you have for yourself, even if you are comfortable the way things are now. When you become more trustworthy, your professional and personal growth will inspire the rest of your team to follow your lead.
Have the courage to seek feedback either through informal meetings, or formal evaluations, or any other way you see fit. But make sure people feel safe providing honest feedback or else they won’t be able to shed light on what they need you to do differently.
Breaking habits and raising standards is not easy to do without the help of someone who can provide structure, accountability, and strategies for success. I invite you to click here to schedule a complimentary call with me and discuss how we can work together to build a high-trust environment in your department.
About the author: Dr. Audrey Reille has empowered thousands of professionals through one-on-one coaching, group coaching, speaking engagements, and online courses. Audrey is the go-to coach for leaders in higher education administration. She empowers them to thrive by reducing stress, optimizing strategies, improving professional relationships, and developing a strong and empowered mindset.