Trust is the cornerstone of effective teams.  From the dynamics of romantic relationships, to family life, to sports teams, to corporations, all the way to the federal government and international relations between countries – trust is what bounds us together or what keeps us separate.

In his state of the union address, President Barack Obama eloquently described why the United States has a federal government that is in many aspects ineffective, and sometimes dysfunctional.   Partisan agendas and philosophical disagreements many times seem to carry a higher weight than the greater good of the country.  In the President’s words:

“We face more than a deficit of dollars right now.  We face a deficit of trust – deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years.”

In the article The 7 Traits of Highly Effective Teams we pointed out how trust is the core trait that makes teams effective.  Anyone who has worked in the corporate world has witnessed what can happen when office politics prevail and when there is fundamental lack of trust among leaders.  Projects stall.  Initiatives fail.  Goals are not achieved. 

Many people chose to leave the relative certainty of a corporate job and a paycheck to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities because they get tired of office politics and the ineffectiveness of leaders who do not trust each other.  I think when people talk about wanting to be their own boss, what they are seeking is not necessarily the additional responsibility, risk, or power.  What they seek is an environment where they can gain satisfaction by achieving results, where rewards are based simply on achievement, not on politicking.

Trust is not an entitlement.  Trust takes time to nurture, so it is natural for newly formed teams to require some time for becoming optimally effective.  Trust is built by delivering on your commitments; by demonstrating consistency between your words and your actions; by not saying one thing in front of people, and something else behind their backs.  Trust is build when people do the right thing when no one is watching.

As human beings we are naturally imperfect.  We all make mistakes.  We all inadvertently hurt people’s feelings occasionally by the way we behave or by the words we say.  We all fall short of perfection.  But trust does not require perfection.  Trust is like a bank account that keeps growing – the more trust building actions you take, the more you deposit into the account, making it bigger and stronger.  Occasionally you may have to make a withdrawal.  This is analogous to a mistake, a poorly worded statement, a misguided judgment, or any of the many potential faults that we are all vulnerable to as human beings.  But if you make too many withdrawals, your bank account will be become small and week – not the king of foundation that you need to build a highly effective team.  Worse yet, if you make a large withdrawal, beyond your account balance, you may have to close the account, destroying the relationship forever.

Are you facing a deficit of trust in your teams?  Do your team members support each other, find compromises when there is disagreement, accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses, leave their egos behind the door, and work towards common goals without hidden agendas?  If not, like the US government, you are not being as effective as the people who entrusted you with the job expect you to be.  If you want to turn this situation around, work on building trust.  

Trust requires someone to take the initiative.  It requires someone to take the first step; to be the first to compromise; to be the first to publicly acknowledge that the other person may have a valid point; to be the first to accept differences of opinions and move on, working towards the common good.

Trust requires bold leadership – someone who will step up to the plate and take the first trust-building initiative.  True leaders will achieve success by working towards building trust.