TRUST IN ORGANIZATIONS

 Original article published on 11/27/2022


Organizational models based on self-management, self-organization, shared power, which promote different types of leadership, must be built upon trust. These models can also serve as frameworks that facilitate the creation of trust in entire organization. I talk about trust in a personal and in a professional way.

But how can we build and maintain trust in organizations? Although there is no "magic recipe" I will explain a couple of ideas that I hope they can help:

Firstly, humility. As Manel Muntada wrote in his article The Logic of Humility in Leadership, "humility consists of being aware of one's own limits and acting accordingly." This should be a characteristic shared by individuals leading teams, organizations, and ecosystems.

On the other hand, over the past few months, I have been working with a team, both as a group and individually. Through many hours of conversations, given the necessary and safety places to talk, I have developed the idea that each person constructs a certain circle of trust.

As individuals, we can have and build trust with a specific number of people. This is because trust requires us to know each other, recognize each other, understand each other, and empathize. And for all of this we need to see how we act each other in concrete actions, so we need time, and adequate environments. Then, each of us will reach a certain, and probably diverse, number of people. We will create a specific circle of trust around ourselves.

Each one’s circles will intertwine, creating shared spaces between two or more individuals. Simultaneously, our circle of trust will extend to people whom others might not be able to reach.

And so, in organizational models based on self-management and self-organization, in which we seek to find different kinds of leadership can contribute to generating and nurturing trust throughout the entire organization.

If each leader tries to build trust inside his circle, especially in those spaces that intersect with other circles, it can be an opportunity to infuse the entire organization with trust.

It’ll be important being aware of one's own limits and acting according to them and understanding that a single person cannot build trust throughout an entire organization. All people in organization will have to weave trust, especially by those who hold certain leadership position.

We mustn't forget that leaders are not merely those with a position on the business card, on the email signature, neither on the organizational chart. Leaders are those who inspire and build trust in their teams and in those people around them, in their circle.

 

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