“What’s in the background when choosing whether to trust is: ‘Will this person support or harm what I value—now and in the future?’”

Blaming. Complaining. Gossiping. Justifying. Avoiding. Defending. So often, these harmful behaviors seep into our everyday interactions at the office. As leaders, we do our best to head off these bad behaviors at the pass. But what if they’re all merely symptoms of a larger, more central problem? In this episode, Kari and Paul discuss how a lack of trust is that common problem at the heart of so much daily dysfunction, and why it can be so hard to recognize it as the culprit. Finally, Kari provides a novel definition of trust as something that we do—a choice that we make—as opposed to something that simply exists. By making that choice to extend trust, we generate extraordinary possibilities that would have otherwise proven impossible.

In This Episode:

01:14 – Why it can be difficult to recognize a lack of trust in organizations.

03:00 – Moving from “why trust is important” to “how to take the trust temperature.”

03:47 – Paul shares a story of a new team member stuck in distrusting behaviors.

04:57 – How trust is at the heart of various self-protecting strategies.

07:01 – A new definition of trust as a “choice.”

10:32 – Kari shares an example of how she is “choosing trust” with a colleague.

12:22 – An assessment of distrust vs. a mood of distrust.

13:41 – How do you get people to start to trust?

17:16 – A call-to-action for generating trust at the office.

Quotes:

“What’s in the background when choosing whether to trust is: ‘Will this person support or harm what I value—now and in the future?’” 

“What we see in high trusting environments is collaboration, the sharing of information and ideas, engaging in conversations, debating, making offers, expecting the best, cooperating, and being willing to take a hard look at one’s own actions.” 

“If you’re in a mood of distrust, no matter the situation, you are predisposed to limit trust, to defend, and to protect.” 

“Every interaction is an opportunity to build, sustain, or erode trust.” 

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Links:

Kari’s Website

Paul’s Website

Online Accountability Course

Contact The Granger Network

Paul’s Other Podcast: Your Business Your Wealth 

LEADERSHIP IMPACT PODCAST

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Acknowledgements:
Our work is mosaic art. We read, study, and practice many philosophies, methodologies, and modalities of human performance, to ensure that our approach best serves our clients. We would like to acknowledge all of the thought leaders and organizations, whose ground-breaking work has influenced the TGN Consulting approach – especially Fernando Flores, Jim Selman, Michael C. Jensen, Julio Olalla, Pluralistic Networks, The Newfield Network, and the Strozzi Institute.

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