With Ivan Hollingsworth, Founder of Centric Consultants
Trust is the bedrock of how we interact with others – whether that is at work or in our personal lives.
Building trust in a team translates into an increase in productivity, more energy, less stress fewer sick days, and lower rates of burnout – all crucial elements when it comes to forming a healthy, efficient, and stable team. Knowing that you can trust those around you – and that they can trust you in return allows you to be free enough to try new things, innovate, and create new ways of approaching problems – all of which pushes your team forward in the same direction.
In hierarchical cultures (where ‘command and control’ is the norm), leaders simply expect trust as a byproduct of the position that they are in, and those further down the chain of command are expected to work night and day to build up enough capital that those at the top trust them in return. This transactional form of leadership just doesn’t work in a modern workplace, we need to flip the narrative and look at a transformational approach which sees leaders starting from a point of trust in the people in their team and working hard to gain it in return.
Our emotions and behaviors change when we build trust with the people around us, it affects our brain chemistry, and it is up to leaders to adopt strategies to build cultures that allow people to develop this if we want our business to be resilient to future storms and attract the best talent in the industry. So, how do you start to build a culture of trust within your team or organisation?
1. Be present
2. Show empathy
3. Empower your team
4. Communicate
5. Address stress
Trust Factor – Paul Zak
In Trust Factor, neuroscientist Paul Zak shows that innate brain functions hold the answers we’ve been looking for. Put simply, the key to providing an engaging, encouraging, positive culture that keeps your employees energized is trust. When someone shows you trust, a feel-good jolt of oxytocin surges through your brain and triggers you to reciprocate. This book also incorporates science-based insights for building high-trust organizations with successful examples from The Container Store, Zappos, and Herman Miller.
The Thin Book of Trust – 2nd Edition
It’s been over 12 years since The Thin Book of Trust was first published. In this 2nd edition, you will find more clarifications, ideas to practice, and other additions including a new chapter on how to build trust on a team. The updated Thin Book of Trust offers a framework that supports trust building as a workplace competency based on the idea that building trust is a competency, a set of skills that can be learned, improved and practiced. A brilliant read for leader who want to embrace the leader as coach philosophy in 2024.
Ivan Hollingsworth is the founder and director of Centric Consultants – a business founded in a bid to tackle ‘culture-washing’ and support business leaders to build strong, sustainable, high-performing teams based on trust and psychological safety. Do you ever feel too busy to read everything out there and find it difficult to choose where to start? Each month he will share his best business reads on key topics that can help business leaders address key challenges in the coming years, including reducing staff burnout, attracting and retaining people, and increasing team performance.
For more insights on what company culture truly means, and how to implement change across your business follow Centric Consultants on LinkedIn or email Ivan directly at ivan@centric-consultants.com