Let's talk about TRUST

Trust is fundamental to leadership, especially during times fo change and uncertainty. Leaders who have establish trust among their followers are able to direct them with less resistance. On the other hand, it is much riskier to follow a leader that you don't trust when you are in unfamiliar circumstances. Followers go above and beyond the line of duty for leaders they trust. Followers only do what they have to for leaders they do not trust.
You can see now, how valuable is to have a high level of trust throughout an organization? It is a very valuable intangible asset.For me it is part of an organization's "social capital". But it is difficult to gain trust among your organization, or among your team etc.
Several characteristics of a good manager engender trust from the individuals and teams that they lead. Such as...Integrity, Reliability, Caring, Openess, Competence and Loyalty. If you have the above characteristics and if you invest in employees, promote open communiaction, behave in an ethical and socially responsible manner and provide a certain degree of job security, then you have it. It's there and it's all yours! "T-R-U-S-T"-Once you get it you just have to look after it, preserve it and perfom business with the best possible outcomes. It is one of the safest ways to optimize business.
I know that some of you, will ask yourself "is he nuts? what job security is he talking about?"- Well yes. We all know that layoffs breed distrust. Correct?
-We invest a certain amount of our careers, psychological identity and personal lives in the organizations that we work for. Such investment leaves us vulnerable. It may be impossible or unwise for employers to offer employees lifetime employement. Nevertheless, reasonable efforts that need to ensure a degree of job security will promote trust. For the sake of trust, organizations that need to reduce their workforce should consider alternatioves to layoffs even if they are more expensive. Individuals who distrust the people they work with, tend to be less productive because they feel unsupported and alone. In addition, they don't believe what they are told and therefore often do not listen, and they must take time to corroborate what they have been told before they can believe it.
-A major advantage to interpersonal trust is information sharing and collaboration. When people trust that they will be given credit for their ideas and that sensitive information that they share will be kept confidential, they are more inclined to discuss their creative ideas and personal goals as well as personal concerns. Such an open environment is the ideal context for developing innovative ideas and resolving conflicts with "win-win" solutions.

Dimitris Papazisis