Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Issues of Trust

We used to trust our leaders, doctors, lawyers, police, and politicians to always act in our best interests. But that is breaking down, and today, it seems that suspicion and litigation are far more plentiful than trust. We are not sure how something as intangible as trust can be on the wane, but our perception is that trust is an ever scarcer commodity. This lack of trust has become a fact of organizational life. And the timing could not be worse. The new organizational design requires trust if it is to work effectively. If we are to have multiple bosses and stakeholders, be empowered, and work in a matrix, how are we to do that with increasing distrust as the political backdrop? In instances where we can build trust, we are more likely to have it reciprocated, which helps us build stronger relationships and enhance our reputation. Trust is a key resource that the organization should guard jealously.

 

• To receive it, you have to first give trust, not the other way around. Someone needs to make the first move. You must choose carefully.

• Every verbal contract contains an issue of trust, and even if trust is not explicit, it will still be in the fine print somewhere.

• Building, nurturing, and keeping trust might sound intangible and complex, but when you have it, life is easier and work is less complex.

 

Our charter needs to commit to building trust and to protecting it carefully when we have it. This does not mean we must suddenly trust everyone, but we ...