Thesis on the impact of building trust in organizations

1. Building Trust in Organizations
Dear friends and colleagues,
We would love to hear your ideas about the value and risks inherent in
building trust in organizations.
Most of us instinctively know that building trust amongst a top management
team and throughout an organization is important.
So how does one build trust? We have some ideas about that including
reinforcing desired behaviors of transparency, authenticity and integrity and
a willingness to show one’s vulnerability. Sounds scary! Business people are
not trained to act this way. And, early on in our careers most of us don’t.
Perhaps the fears we have about this are the fears of showing weakness and
being taken advantage of.
Well think about the last time one of your peers shared something with you
that came from her or his heart. Whether, it was about a personal challenge,
professional risk or a piece of “carefrontationally delivered” feedback; is it
possible you then trusted the person more than if you simply received an
analytic left-brained message on the same topic?
Our thesis is that as business people move into positions of leadership,
gaining commitment to one’s vision and goals is better served by letting
people know we are human, sharing our feelings and caring about the
feelings others.
We plan to write more on this; perhaps in book form. Your input would be
very much valued. Please share your personal stories about building trust
with us at mailto:ontrust@gelmanandassociates.com
Thank you
Jack Gelman
Managing Director – Gelman & Associates, LLC
Group Chair – Vistage International