In France, you always have to prepay for petrol.
In Australia, you never do.
It got me thinking: what does this say about trust – and how often are we sending mixed signals about it in the workplace?
I was thinking about this when travelling recently and what it says about differing mentalities.
It’s clearly the case that – for whatever reason, based on data or beliefs – French petrol station operators have less trust in their customers.
Having to prepay was irritating and inconvenient, but what I didn’t like at all was the feeling of not being trusted.
Then I got thinking about different workplaces I’ve worked in. And even different teams within the same workplace.
Some project a greater sense of trust towards employees than others.
Because Old Management sees employees as money-hungry, selfish, entitled opportunists that must be watched closely to guard against their thinly-veiled raging self interest.
Whereas New Management sees employees as – just like the managers themselves – people. People who from time to time might make selfish decisions, but are on the whole pretty reasonable and worthy of trust. And who are often prepared to make short-term sacrifices for the long-term mutual benefit of them and the organisation.
Old Management therefore puts tight restrictions in place to control and nail down every degree of freedom available to its people. Old Management is suspicious. Old Management say things like, “if someone’s working from home, I should be able to call anyone anytime and they better be at their home desk working” (which naively ignores the fact that people aren’t “working” 100% of the time, let alone 100% of the time at their desks, even when they’re in the office).
Whereas New Management creates an environment of trust where it assumes that most people most of the time will be doing the right thing (and almost always trying to do the right thing). New Management gives people a high degree of freedom within boundaries, and – if and when required – high degrees of accountability when people go outside them.
These mentalities create two different environments for employees. And – much like me at the petrol station – people pick up on this. It doesn’t feel good when you sense your bosses don’t trust you. And when we don’t feel trusted, we don’t feel safe and secure.
And insecurity leads to untethered thinking and – sometimes – behaviour. At best, it will have no effect on someone’s performance. But it will usually undermine it. No one is at their best when they’re feeling insecure. It can lead them to be excessivley cautious, which can affect decision-making effectiveness. And it will undermine their levels of engagement and commitment, which will reduce their impact.
Ultimately, trust in the workplace is a two-way street, but the onus is on leaders to set the tone. If you approach your team with suspicion, they’ll sense it – and it will shape their experience, performance and even their commitment. On the other hand, trust creates the conditions for people to thrive, take ownership and deliver their best.
So, ask yourself: what signals are you sending to your team? Are they the ones you want to be sending?
Trust isn’t just about the big policies or decisions – it’s also about the little moments that show your people whether you truly believe in them.
