It’s Time We Start Trusting People at Work

If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can **request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders **which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.

https://www.futureofworkleaders.com/

At the heart of every strong relationship, whether personal or professional, is trust. It’s a powerful force that can bridge divides, unlock the potential of others, lead to amazing discoveries, and transform teams, organizations, and societies. However, in the absence of trust, chaos will take over.

The truth is, trust is not just a soft skill; it’s the very foundation of effective leadership. Without it, employees won’t share their ideas or support one another. They will hoard information or engage in backstabbing and office politics. Worse? They won’t do their best to serve customers, ultimately creating a toxic culture. Would you want this kind of environment for your team? Would you stay in a relationship when there is no trust?

The Science Behind Trust

In 2010, Dr. Detlef Fetchenhauer of the University of Cologne and Dr. David Dunning (whom I interviewed for my latest book) from the University of Michigan dove headfirst into the area of human behavior and trust. They played trust games that have been used for several years in psychology and economics

Let’s say I give you $10 and I present you with a choice: you can either keep the money or give it to someone else. If you give it to someone else, that $10 now becomes $40. The person to whom you gave the money will now have a choice as well: they can either keep the $40 or split it with you, and now you will each have $20. Would you give the money to the other person and trust that they will then split the larger pot with you?

In their study, they found that roughly half of the participants believed that the person they gave the money to would be trustworthy and would split the larger pot back with them. It’s the same equivalent of deciding to trust someone based on a coin flip.

But in reality, over 80% of the people ended up sharing the larger pot. This means that there is a massive gap between how trustworthy we think people are, versus how trustworthy people actually are.

Our tendency to underestimate trustworthiness might be rooted in evolutionary psychology. After all, being wary of strangers or potential threats could be considered a crucial trait for survival. It’s also true that we tend to remember negative experiences much more than positive ones. A single betrayal can overshadow many positive experiences.

And this is the paradox that we are now in. If you never trust someone, then you won’t be vulnerable with them. And if you are never vulnerable with them, then they will never have the chance to disprove your assumption that they are not trustworthy.

What can we do?

It’s time we start trusting people at work. Instead of assuming you CAN’T trust others, it’s a better idea to assume that you CAN.

It’s a bit like that Dr. Seuss story, Green Eggs And Ham where Sam keeps saying how much he hates green eggs and ham even though he never tried them. Then finally when he does try them he loves them.

If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can **request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders** which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.

https://www.futureofworkleaders.com/