Leadership
Corporate Culture Begins and Ends With Trust By Paul F. Petricca, Torque Consulting The culture of an organization is invisible. You can’t touch it, yet corporate leaders are constantly searching for the elusive prize of a positive and inclusive culture. Many factors, including cool and creative office space, employee benefits, and thoughtful mission statements can influence the culture of an organization, but building and maintaining a compelling culture centers around one word--Trust. Do you trust your organization? How much do you trust the leaders in your organization, especially during these difficult times? During my thirty years in corporate real estate, I had the good fortune to work with leaders who motivated me to dedicate myself to the mission of the organization every day. I trusted them. Unfortunately, some leaders chose a different approach causing me to question their motives. This tested my faith in the organization and diminished my motivation to perform on their behalf. I didn’t trust them. Trust is also critical for successful personal relationships. When the bonds of mutual trust are strong, our relationships flourish. But, when trust is broken by either party, relationships suffer and seemingly strong bonds can be easily broken. If you think about the relationships in your life that are either strong or precarious, I bet trust plays a pivotal role. An employee’s relationship with their organization is no different.
28 Insight • Issue 4, 2020
Leaders come and go and so do organizations. Often, one of the primary reasons for their demise is a lack of trust. The importance of organizational trust should not be underestimated in developing a positive and enduring culture. Here are four areas of organizational trust that impact employees, partners, customers, and shareholders. I encourage you to grade yourself if you are a leader or your organization.
Transparency Are your leaders honest and authentic? Do they actually care about the individuals they lead at every level of the organization or are they distant? The most effective leaders don’t have to intentionally do anything to prove they are transparent. Their daily interactions with team members tell the real story. The goal of all leaders, especially in large organizations, should be for others to tell a positive story about them. When employees hear anecdotes about honest dealings, authentic conversations or acts of kindness and compassion, the news will travel fast within the organization until there is consensus. Without ever meeting the leader, employees will develop a sense of confidence and yes, trust. Transparency can be a challenge for organizations and leaders. Some leaders naturally lack interpersonal skills, but they can choose to be genuine. A quiet leader who is transparent can be as trusted as an outgoing leader. Both will enjoy the allegiance of their teams, not solely because of their personality, but due to the trust they earn through their openness and honesty.
