1) Trust, defined by the Oxford dictionary as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something (2018). After watching this week video, it certainly grabbed my attention by how trust could influence the behavior and performance of a whole organization in both positive and negative ways. According to Robbins and Judge, "trust is a perception that can be vulnerable to shifting condition in a team environment" (2017, p206). The concept aligns with Pauline Voortman's point of view--uncertainty and vulnerability (2013). It makes someone vulnerable by putting trust into someone else. Betraying trust will cost negative feelings such as fear and anger which will further harm the culture and productivity of an organization. People are looking for predictability and good will to accept vulnerability, thus, leaders should be encouraged to embrace vulnerability by admit mistakes, expose emotions, or show uncertainties, it is the key for creating trust in organizations (Voortman, 2013). What are other ways to build trust in an organization? As Ben Hempstead mentioned, transparency is essential in creating trusts in an organization (2015). In our organization, we are having an upfront transparent pricing with our clients this year. It not only provides a clear picture for clients but also raises the confidence of our Tax Preparer. There are more predictable, and less surprise. By doing so, our client's satisfaction has increased dramatically. Plus, based on Jacqueline Oliveira, there are three attributes of trust, competence, integrity, and caring (2016). A leader has to ask questions regarding the three attributes, write it done, review it, and be flexible and willing to make changes (Oliveira, 2016). It also requires time to build trust particularly among people with different background and experiences (Robbins & Judge, 2017 p203). What happens if someone takes advantage of trust? As stated by Mel Fugate, 98 percent of employees have reported experiencing unethical behavior at work, yet, leaders are rarely had consequences in involving in unethical activities (2015). Unethical leadership creates unethical cultures which reinforce unethical behaviors (Fugate, 2015). Highly ethical leader tend to have followers who are more engaged in the organization and more willing to bring problems to the leaders; high ethical leadership is also acknowledged on reduced interpersonal conflicts (Robbins & Judge, 2017, p230). An organization has to educate employees as well as management teams that legal behaviors do not equal to ethical, nor is all unethical behaviors illegal (Fugate, 2015). In summary, building trust demands many efforts, such as act with integrity and keep commitments, keep team member informed, listen to employees with respect and full attention, and initiate believe and trust employees first. Small changes can make a huge impact, leaders should have high self-awareness of doing those small things constantly to ...

1. 1) Trust, defined by the Oxford dictionary as a firm belief in the
reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something
(2018). After watching this week video, it certainly grabbed my
attention by how trust could influence the behavior and
performance of a whole organization in both positive and
negative ways.
According to Robbins and Judge, "trust is a perception that can
be vulnerable to shifting condition in a team environment"
(2017, p206). The concept aligns with Pauline Voortman's poi nt
of view--uncertainty and vulnerability (2013). It makes someone
vulnerable by putting trust into someone else. Betraying trust
will cost negative feelings such as fear and anger which will
further harm the culture and productivity of an organization.
People are looking for predictability and good will to accept
vulnerability, thus, leaders should be encouraged to embrace
vulnerability by admit mistakes, expose emotions, or show
uncertainties, it is the key for creating trust in organizations
(Voortman, 2013). What are other ways to build trust in an
organization?
As Ben Hempstead mentioned, transparency is essential in
creating trusts in an organization (2015). In our organization,
we are having an upfront transparent pricing with our clients
this year. It not only provides a clear picture for clients but also
raises the confidence of our Tax Preparer. There are more
predictable, and less surprise. By doing so, our client's
satisfaction has increased dramatically. Plus, based on
Jacqueline Oliveira, there are three attributes of trust,
competence, integrity, and caring (2016). A leader has to ask
questions regarding the three attributes, write it done, review it,
and be flexible and willing to make changes (Oliveira, 2016). It
also requires time to build trust particularly among people with

2. different background and experiences (Robbins & Judge, 2017
p203). What happens if someone takes advantage of trust?
As stated by Mel Fugate, 98 percent of employees have reported
experiencing unethical behavior at work, yet, leaders are rarely
had consequences in involving in unethical activities (2015).
Unethical leadership creates unethical cultures which reinforce
unethical behaviors (Fugate, 2015). Highly ethical leader tend
to have followers who are more engaged in the organization and
more willing to bring problems to the leaders; high ethical
leadership is also acknowledged on reduced interpersonal
conflicts (Robbins & Judge, 2017, p230). An organization has to
educate employees as well as management teams that legal
behaviors do not equal to ethical, nor is all unethical behaviors
illegal (Fugate, 2015).
In summary, building trust demands many efforts, such as act
with integrity and keep commitments, keep team member
informed, listen to employees with respect and full attention,
and initiate believe and trust employees first. Small changes can
make a huge impact, leaders should have high self-awareness of
doing those small things constantly to build trusts.
2)
This week’s videos focused on the concept of trust,
accountability, integrity and honesty in an organization. These
terms might seem very general and simple, but they form the
foundation of successful leadership and productive
organizations. I personally liked the TED talk by Mel Fugate
the most, where he talks about the differences between ethical
and legal liabilities (Fugate, 2015). Unfortunately, most of the
forms of unethical behavior are not recognized as illegal, and
therefore it allows such wrongdoings to happen and become
embedded in the workplace. Leaders play an important part in

3. affecting the performance of those under them, by not only self-
indulging in such behavior, but also ignoring and letting it be a
constant part of the organization. I have not personally
experienced bullying or unethical practices at the places where I
worked, but I have heard of these practices from my fellow co-
workers. Some of these experiences have resulted in their lack
of confidence in certain scenarios and also less trust in the
organization. The term ‘if you want to get along, go along’ is
very common in workplaces and even universities today and this
sort of behavior hinders leadership to clear the ethical liability
hurdle (Fugate, 2015).
Such forms of behavior can not only result in lack of
performance or confidence, but can also lead to less
transparency and unsafe work environments (Hempstead, 2015).
Customer-oriented organizations, such as the one that I work in,
value customer support and trust as the number one priority. If
unethical practices are very common in such places, it can
affect reputation and result in a high turnover of employees and
customers. Therefore in order to maintain transparency,
according to Ben Hempstead, it is very significant for leaders to
show credibility and visibility in the work that they perform
(Hempstead, 2015).
The book highlights the dilemma between
ethical choices
of right and wrong that an individual has to choose (Robbins &
Judge, 2017). This is not always clearly defined and requires
strong judgment and integrity that can also sometimes lead to
the disadvantage of the ethically correct individual. This
concept of dilemma is later stated in the form of
behavioral ethics
, along with
lying
to portray decision making and misinterpret information
(Robbins & Judge, 2017). One of the major responsibilities of

4. an
authentic leader
is to create good moral and ethical values in the organization
and set an example for everyone to follow (Robbins & Judge,
2017).
Jacqueline Oliveira highlights a very important link between
culture and trust, which is very noticeable in today’s diverse
work environment (Oliveira, 2016). People from different
backgrounds value integrity and ethics in very different
manners, so it’s crucial to keep an open mind while working
with diverse groups. Working in a French company, for
example, I have noticed that French people value punctuality
and honesty the most. They tend to trust people who are regular
in office and value the time and honesty of their co-workers.
3)
Legal does not mean Ethical. Eric Holder, former US Attorney
General, said that the conduct that led to the financial crisis was
“Unethical and Irresponsible”. And some of this behavior –
while morally reprehensible – may not necessarily have been
criminal” (Fugate, Apr 23, 2015). Legal liabilities are easy to
cover and one need common sense to cover. It is “The test of
Smarts”. But ethical liability is the “Test of the Character” and
is difficult to achieve (Fugate, Apr 23, 2015). Speaker
explained why a leader needs to be smart as well as of good
character. There are a few cases of fraud and violence that he
explained occurred during the last few years in the USA. But
those incidences are not isolated, these are the patterns which
are real problems (Fugate, Apr 23, 2015). At the same time,
these behaviors are tolerated by leaders in respective
organizations. We really need to think, are the powerful people
are above the law and exceptions for their misconduct and
unethical behavior. There are some top-level executives still

5. working in the organizations despite their organizations
suffered because of their unethical behavior. Why do
organizations ignore these unethical behaviors from top
management executives? Why there are no consequences for
leaders? (Fugate, Apr 23, 2015). Leaders need to follow the
codes of ethics, they should be held accountable for work
performance of the peers, they should communicate compliance
and non-compliance both and don’t hide bad behavior (Fugate,
Apr 23, 2015).
Trust and transparency is important to get entire teams success
(Hempstead, Dec 22, 2015). In the video, Ben talked about trust
which means minimum bureaucracy and few departments. Trust,
autonomy, and responsibility are important factors for
employees to remember and value most even after they leave the
company (Hempstead, Dec 22, 2015).
Winning mutual trust is an ongoing task, in small and large
matters (Voortman, May 23, 2013). Leaders should put core
values into the practice which are honesty, integrity, and respect
for people (Voortman, May 23rd 2013). Trust is a positive
feeling an aspect of relations within a context whereas fear and
anger are negative feelings which are also a signal of betrayed
trust (Voortman, May 23rd 2013). Most of the leaders trust data
and avoid feelings which make them vulnerable. Some leaders
think that by showing vulnerability, they will lose control and
they can afford that but they should be courageous and embrace
vulnerability (Voortman, May 23rd 2013).
For a team to be successful, there are certain factors that can
relate to performance. Some of them are discussed here.
Leadership and Structure are important in a multi-team
environment, where leaders need to delegate responsibility to
the team (Robbins, 2017). The climate of trust is another one,
trust is the foundation of leadership, trust among the team
members facilitate cooperation, reduces the need of monitor

6. each other’s behavior and bonds individual (Robbins, 2017).
Team members are more likely to take a risk and exposed
vulnerabilities when they can trust others on their team
(Robbins, 2017).
Culture is very important in the workplace, it increases
productivity, creativity, moral but at the same time, if trust is
not present in the company, these results start to decrease
(Oliveira, Jun 7th 2016). According to the speaker in the video,
the company she was hired is performing poorly and the
company thought it might be because of different diversity. But
people from different culture show different behavior based on
competence, integrity and caring (Oliveira, Jun 7th 2016).
Cultural differences affect team performance (Robbins, 2017).
Because can be high culture status member and low culture
status member. But instead taking diversity as a negative point,
a leader should consider