Trust is a vital ingredient in organizations since they represent a type of
ongoing relationship. In their book The Trusted Leader, Robert Galford and Anne
Seibold Drapeau analyze this important aspect of leadership and offer models for
understanding trust and how to build it.
Galford and Drapeau identified three categories of trust within an organization:
Strategic trust - trust in the organization's mission, strategy, and ability
to succeed.
Organizational trust - trust that the organization's policies will be fairly
administered and implemented as stated.
Personal trust - trust that subordinates place in their manager to be fair and
to look out for their interests.
In The Trusted Leader, Galford and Drapeau focus primarily on building personal
and organizational trust.
Trust reduces unproductive rumors and second guessing that distracts employees
from their work. It motivates, stimulates creativity, and helps the organization
to attract and retain great employees.
Modeling Trust
Galford and Drapeau offer the following equation to model trust:
Trustworthiness = C + R + I
S
where
C = credibility
R = reliability
I = intimacy
S = self-orientation
These characteristics are described as follows:
Credibility is earned by expertise, by the ability to obtain the required
expertise, and by being up-front about one's limitations.
Reliability is consistency and dependability. Reliable leaders provide a sense
of comfort to their subordinates.
Intimacy is not about revealing personal details, but rather, making the
business of the organization personal and understanding the sensitivities of
others.
Self-orientation is the degree to which one focuses on one's own concerns when
interacting with others. Self-orientation decreases trustworthiness. Those who
are motivated by duty or achievement tend to be more self-oriented than those
motivated by meaning or who gain pleasure from the work itself.
Enemies of Trust
While the above formula provides some insight, building trust is not an endeavor
performed in isolation. Rather, building trust is an effort of defending trust
from its enemies. A lone trusted leader cannot succeed in an untrustworthy
environment because such a leader will become a target and eventually be brought
down.
Galford and Drapeau identified 22 enemies of trust, each of which can be
classified in one of the following categories:
Inadequate communication
Misbehavior
Unremedied situations
Building Personal Trust
To build personal trust, Galford and Drapeau present a five stage process:
Engaging - finding common ground and relating to other people, for example, by
appreciating the key challenges that employees face in their jobs.
Listening - builds trust by showing that one cares enough to invest the time
to listen. Asking thoughtful questions, getting clarification when necessary,
and giving one's complete attention to the conversation all send the message
that one cares about the other person.
Framing - making sure that one understands the core of what the other person
is conveying, and letting him or her know it.
Envisioning - looking to the future and identifying an optimistic and
achievable outcome, and helping the other person to visualize the benefits of
that outcome.
Committing - both parties agree and commit to moving toward the envisioned
future.
Building Organizational Trust
Organizational trust is based on belief in the way things are done in the
organization. While organizational trust requires personal trust in the
organization's leaders on an aggregate basis, it is possible to have an
untrustworthy supervisor and still believe in the organization.
Galford and Drapeau identified five variables on which organizational trust
depends, as shown in the following equation:
Organizational Trustworthiness = (A1 + A2 + A3) x (A4 + A5)
R
where
A1 = Aspirations
A2 = Abilities
A3 = Actions
A4 = Alignment
A5 = Articulation
R = Resistance
These variables are described as follows:
Aspirations - aspirations provide the incentive for people in the organization
to want to trust each other. Aspirations is another term for business vision.
Abilities - are the resources and capabilities required to fulfill the
aspirations.
Actions - actually getting to the task and doing what is needed to reach the
organizational goals rather than losing focus to the distractions that
inevitably will arise.
Alignment - having consistency between aspirations, abilities, and actions.
Articulation - communicating the aspirations, abilities, actions, and
alignment so that everybody in the organization knows them and is able to
articulate them.
Resistance - building a trusting organization is likely to be met with
resistance in the form of skepticism, fear, frustration, and a "we-they"
mindset.
In the organizational trust formula, resistance is unique because it stands
alone in the denominator; thus it is crucial to minimize it. Galford and Drapeau
propose that resistance is best conquered by long-term action designed to
directly address the issues behind the resistance.
Recommended Reading
Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau, The Trusted Leader
The book on which this article is based, The Trusted Leader covers the subject
of trusted leadership in-depth with plenty of examples that bring theory to
life.
After introducing the theory, the book presents practical advice for situations
frequently encountered by senior leaders.
Table of Contents
Part One:An Overview of Trusted Leadership
1. What is trusted leadership?
2. The Trusted Leader Self-Assessment
3. The Characteristics and Competencies of the Trusted Leader
4. The Enemies of Trusted Leadership
Part Two:Identifying and Applying the Tools of Trusted Leaders
5. The Tools of Building Personal Trust
6. The Tools of Building Organizational Trust
Part Three: How Trusted Leaders Work
7. From the Top
8. Inside Teams, Departments, Offices
9. Across Teams, Departments, Offices
Part Four
efining Moments
10. In Times of Change
11. When People Leave
12. In Times of Crisis
Part Five:Building Trust in Perspective
13. Trust Lost, Trust Rebuilt
14. When You Leave: The Legacy of Trust
Afterword: The Trusted Leader Continues
Notes and References
About the Authors
Index
ongoing relationship. In their book The Trusted Leader, Robert Galford and Anne
Seibold Drapeau analyze this important aspect of leadership and offer models for
understanding trust and how to build it.
Galford and Drapeau identified three categories of trust within an organization:
Strategic trust - trust in the organization's mission, strategy, and ability
to succeed.
Organizational trust - trust that the organization's policies will be fairly
administered and implemented as stated.
Personal trust - trust that subordinates place in their manager to be fair and
to look out for their interests.
In The Trusted Leader, Galford and Drapeau focus primarily on building personal
and organizational trust.
Trust reduces unproductive rumors and second guessing that distracts employees
from their work. It motivates, stimulates creativity, and helps the organization
to attract and retain great employees.
Modeling Trust
Galford and Drapeau offer the following equation to model trust:
Trustworthiness = C + R + I
S
where
C = credibility
R = reliability
I = intimacy
S = self-orientation
These characteristics are described as follows:
Credibility is earned by expertise, by the ability to obtain the required
expertise, and by being up-front about one's limitations.
Reliability is consistency and dependability. Reliable leaders provide a sense
of comfort to their subordinates.
Intimacy is not about revealing personal details, but rather, making the
business of the organization personal and understanding the sensitivities of
others.
Self-orientation is the degree to which one focuses on one's own concerns when
interacting with others. Self-orientation decreases trustworthiness. Those who
are motivated by duty or achievement tend to be more self-oriented than those
motivated by meaning or who gain pleasure from the work itself.
Enemies of Trust
While the above formula provides some insight, building trust is not an endeavor
performed in isolation. Rather, building trust is an effort of defending trust
from its enemies. A lone trusted leader cannot succeed in an untrustworthy
environment because such a leader will become a target and eventually be brought
down.
Galford and Drapeau identified 22 enemies of trust, each of which can be
classified in one of the following categories:
Inadequate communication
Misbehavior
Unremedied situations
Building Personal Trust
To build personal trust, Galford and Drapeau present a five stage process:
Engaging - finding common ground and relating to other people, for example, by
appreciating the key challenges that employees face in their jobs.
Listening - builds trust by showing that one cares enough to invest the time
to listen. Asking thoughtful questions, getting clarification when necessary,
and giving one's complete attention to the conversation all send the message
that one cares about the other person.
Framing - making sure that one understands the core of what the other person
is conveying, and letting him or her know it.
Envisioning - looking to the future and identifying an optimistic and
achievable outcome, and helping the other person to visualize the benefits of
that outcome.
Committing - both parties agree and commit to moving toward the envisioned
future.
Building Organizational Trust
Organizational trust is based on belief in the way things are done in the
organization. While organizational trust requires personal trust in the
organization's leaders on an aggregate basis, it is possible to have an
untrustworthy supervisor and still believe in the organization.
Galford and Drapeau identified five variables on which organizational trust
depends, as shown in the following equation:
Organizational Trustworthiness = (A1 + A2 + A3) x (A4 + A5)
R
where
A1 = Aspirations
A2 = Abilities
A3 = Actions
A4 = Alignment
A5 = Articulation
R = Resistance
These variables are described as follows:
Aspirations - aspirations provide the incentive for people in the organization
to want to trust each other. Aspirations is another term for business vision.
Abilities - are the resources and capabilities required to fulfill the
aspirations.
Actions - actually getting to the task and doing what is needed to reach the
organizational goals rather than losing focus to the distractions that
inevitably will arise.
Alignment - having consistency between aspirations, abilities, and actions.
Articulation - communicating the aspirations, abilities, actions, and
alignment so that everybody in the organization knows them and is able to
articulate them.
Resistance - building a trusting organization is likely to be met with
resistance in the form of skepticism, fear, frustration, and a "we-they"
mindset.
In the organizational trust formula, resistance is unique because it stands
alone in the denominator; thus it is crucial to minimize it. Galford and Drapeau
propose that resistance is best conquered by long-term action designed to
directly address the issues behind the resistance.
Recommended Reading
Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau, The Trusted Leader
The book on which this article is based, The Trusted Leader covers the subject
of trusted leadership in-depth with plenty of examples that bring theory to
life.
After introducing the theory, the book presents practical advice for situations
frequently encountered by senior leaders.
Table of Contents
Part One:An Overview of Trusted Leadership
1. What is trusted leadership?
2. The Trusted Leader Self-Assessment
3. The Characteristics and Competencies of the Trusted Leader
4. The Enemies of Trusted Leadership
Part Two:Identifying and Applying the Tools of Trusted Leaders
5. The Tools of Building Personal Trust
6. The Tools of Building Organizational Trust
Part Three: How Trusted Leaders Work
7. From the Top
8. Inside Teams, Departments, Offices
9. Across Teams, Departments, Offices
Part Four
efining Moments10. In Times of Change
11. When People Leave
12. In Times of Crisis
Part Five:Building Trust in Perspective
13. Trust Lost, Trust Rebuilt
14. When You Leave: The Legacy of Trust
Afterword: The Trusted Leader Continues
Notes and References
About the Authors
Index