Trust is fundamental for successful relationships, teams, and organizations, as it facilitates transparency, autonomy, and stronger relationships. To build trust, it is essential to establish it as a norm, be transparent, fulfill commitments, and hold others accountable. By focusing on trust, teams can achieve greater success and foster personal integrity.

1. If I were asked to pick the single most important driver of successful relationships, teams, and
organizations, I would choose trust. It’s the foundation everything else is built on.
Trust is the "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something".
Sounds simple. But it's difficult to build, remarkably easy to lose, and - despite its importance -
seldom nurtured or focused on.
Why is trust important?
1. Trust drives transparency. If you can’t trust that your comments will be taken at face value, with
the best interest at heart for your partnership or the organization, then you will fear unintended
consequences. So you say nothing. Without transparency, as Patrick Lencioni writes, in The Five
Dysfunctions Of A Team, you can’t have open and honest debate, nor benefit from the optimal
solutions, accountability, and commitment that follows. Without transparency, the elephants
remain in the room, never discussed, nor addressed.
2. Trust drives autonomy. The more an individual demonstrates that they follow through on their
word, the more their manager can get out of the way, let the professional shine, and provide
increasing areas of responsibility. Everyone wins. And autonomy, as noted by Daniel Pink in
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is the top contributor towards motivation.
3. Trust drives relationship strength. If someone says one thing, then does another, you’re not
very likely to rely on that relationship in the future. Problem is, that teams within organizations are
highly interdependent - so if a link breaks, particularly at senior levels, that has very significant
implications for all of the individuals that now have to take sub-optimal routes to avoid the fissure.
Alright, we get it. Trust is important. How do we go about building it?
1. Establish trust as a norm. Explain why trust is important, and ask for it to be shared amongst
the team. Set the new standard, along with parameters for safe discussion. It doesn’t matter
whether you’re doing this with one partner, a working team of five, or an organization of a
thousand. You have the ability to make a difference.
2. Be transparent. Put your cards on the table for all to see. Clarify expectations to make sure
everyone is on the same page. Talk straight, be respectful, and never skirt the thorny issues. It
doesn’t have to be comfortable, but it does have to be candid.
3. Do what you say you are going to do. Just commit, clearly set expectations, and then execute.
And, if events change and you’re no longer able to meet your commitments, despite your best
efforts, communicate that early and honestly.
4. Hold others accountable. Once the new norms are conveyed, you need to ask yourself, and
then others, what went wrong when they are not lived up to and offer public recognition when
they are.
I put a lot of focus and attention on building trust and I’ve found it not only to be a very powerful
driver of team success, but also a key component of personal integrity and principle.
I’m interested to hear about your experiences with trust - please share them in the comments.