Whole Leaders, Wild Trust

PART IIICreating a Whole and Trusted Team

Trust begins within us at the personal level as we more deeply understand ourselves. When we start to work with others and our understanding of ourselves and our ability to get things done bumps into that same reality in others, that is where trust impacts our experience every day. Whether on a team or in other relationships in our lives, when our reality comes face-to-face with the reality of others and we start to do life and work together, trust moves from something we are preparing for to something that we must experience together if anything positive is going to occur. In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni wrote, “Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. And so the first dysfunction that must be addressed is the absence of it” (Lencioni 2002, 43). That foundation is not built by accident. It requires clarity, humility, and the courage to work through what’s hard instead of avoiding it.

If people were perfect and never let one another down, we wouldn’t understand our need for trust. But, we are not perfect. None of us are. Facing that reality is the foundation upon which trust must begin to be built because it is the whole story. Trust is necessary for us to not only accomplish things together, but for us to feel healthy and whole. This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to trust. At the level of relationships and teams is where trust is enacted. As Lencioni continues, “Teamwork begins by building trust. ...