The Strategic Importance of Trust

I heard this phrase recently and it has echoed in my head ever since. As I pondered the statement, I realized that trust, or the lack of it, is the foundation that all relationships are built on, including business relationships. Who wants to do business with, work for or employee people you do not trust? Without trust the relationship is tenuous.

In the conversation where I first heard this phrase, trust was given a deeper definition than usually heard. We trust in a person when they are honest, hard-working, etc. However, we don’t fully trust them until we have confidence that they have the ability to do what we are asking them to do or the knowledge in the subject where we are seeking answers.

So, trust is a combination of character and confidence. Without both, we are not totally sure what we need another person to do will be accomplished correctly. If it is a task, we keep looking over their shoulder to see if they are doing it correctly. If it is an answer to a question, we seek other sources to confirm their answer. In both scenarios we are still not able to move on because of the lack of trust.

One of the biggest problems I see with overloaded management people in most organizations is their inability to delegate because of their lack of trust in others. The only way you can totally let go of a responsibility is to be able to give it to someone else that you have confidence in and you are sure it will be handled correctly.

We need to be strategic in building trust if we hope to have positive, functional relationships. If we don’t find a way to build our trust in others, we will always be spending time that could be used more productively while we are making sure things are getting done correctly by others.

I have learned there are three easy steps to releasing a responsibility. However, before you start the delegation process, make sure you are giving it to a person that you can trust once they have mastered the ability to accomplish what you desire to hand off.

Step 1: You do, they watch
Once they are confident they can do it, move to step 2, but not before.

Step 2: They do, you watch
This is the critical step. Do not let go until you are so confident in them that you feel you are totally wasting your time setting there watching them. Determine a simple measurement system that will allow you to see at a glance that they are still on track as time goes on.

Step 3: Release the responsibility and focus on other areas.

The strategic importance of trust is the key to growth, both individually and corporately. Without it we spend too much time checking on others instead of moving forward. Build the strategic important of trust into your team to perpetuate growth in all areas of your organization.