What can an organisation do to enhance trust?
Every morning I start the day with a 2.5 km run.
Damn, that's not true. Every morning I start the day with the intent to do a 2.5 km run.
My intent is slowly getting closer to the reality that I want. So I am good with that.
One thing that has helped me is the concept of habit stacking. I took this idea from James Clear's super book Atomic Habits. My stack is pretty simple. Running and learning. Some mornings I am mostly running. Some mornings I am mostly learning. Either way, it is all good stuff, and I benefit from both.
Anyways, each morning whilst getting a sweat on, I listen to Michael Bungay Stanier's fabulous podcast 2-pages. MBS invites a beautiful array of humans to share just 2 pages of a book that's important to them and reflect on why.
This morning's podcast was particularly powerful, and I'd love to share this with you.
MBS spoke with Sandra Sucher. Sandra is the Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School and author of a new book: The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It.
Wow, want a thoughtful and inspiring conversation. Firstly, Sandra's book choice might surprise you - 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' by Richard Rhodes. Heavy stuff for an early morning jog. But, Sandra utilised this text to demonstrate the power and impact of moral leadership.
She brought into focus the courage that it takes to surrender. To let go. To do what really needs to be done. To bring something to an end. To recognise the consequences of your decision and protect the trust that others have in you.
All this is grounded in that trust. It is at the heart of what a moral leader is all about.
There are loads of golden nuggets in the conversation. Too many to plagiarise here.
But here is one which made me really reflect.
What can an organisation do to enhance trust?
A simple suggestion from Sandra is to stop laying people off. She offers that is the number one practice that erodes trust from the inside - treating the lives of the people who work with us casually.
Trust is built from the inside out. It is nearly impossible for those outside the organisation to trust you if the people on the inside don't feel trusted themselves. Fear will take you to a certain level. But to achieve higher results, we need to act in ways that demonstrate we care about others health, wellbeing and safety.
What do you think? I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached here and on LinkedIn.
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