Page 403 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

402 Part 4 • Leading
own performance, and even make its own hiring decisions, trust becomes critical. Employees
have to trust managers to treat them fairly, and managers have to trust employees to consci-
entiously fulfill their responsibilities.
Also, leaders have to increasingly lead others who may not be in their immediate work
group or even may be physically separated—members of cross-functional or virtual teams,
individuals who work for suppliers or customers, and perhaps even people who represent
other organizations through strategic alliances. These situations don’t allow leaders the
luxury of falling back on their formal positions for influence. Many of these relationships,
in fact, are fluid and fleeting. So the ability to quickly develop trust and sustain that trust is
crucial to the success of the relationship.

Why is it important that followers trust their leaders?

Research has shown that trust in leadership is significantly related to positive job out-
comes including job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction, and
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organizational commitment. Given the importance of trust to effective leadership, leaders
need to build trust with their followers. Some suggestions are shown in Exhibit 12–7.

Exhibit 12–7 Suggestions for Building Trust

1. practice openness. Mistrust comes as much from what people don’t know as
from what they do know. Openness leads to confidence and trust. So keep people
informed; make clear the criteria on how decisions are made; explain the rationale for
your decisions; be candid about problems; and fully disclose relevant information.
2. be fair. Before making decisions or taking actions, consider how others will perceive
them in terms of objectivity and fairness. Give credit where credit is due; be objective
and impartial in performance appraisals; and pay attention to equity perceptions in
reward distributions.
3. speak your feelings. Leaders who convey only hard facts come across as cold and
distant. When you share your feelings, others will see you as real and human. They
will know who you are and their respect for you will increase.
4. tell the truth. If honesty is critical to credibility, you must be perceived as someone
who tells the truth. Followers are more tolerant of being told something they “don’t
want to hear” than of finding out that their leader lied to them.
5. be consistent. People want predictability. Mistrust comes from not knowing what to
expect. Take the time to think about your values and beliefs. Then let them consis-
tently guide your decisions. When you know your central purpose, your actions will
follow accordingly, and you will project a consistency that earns trust.
6. Fulfill your promises. Trust requires that people believe that you’re dependable. So
you need to keep your word. Promises made must be promises kept.
7. maintain confidences. You trust those whom you believe to be discreet and whom
you can rely on. If people make themselves vulnerable by telling you something in
confidence, they need to feel assured that you won’t discuss it with others or betray
that confidence. If people perceive you as someone who leaks personal confidences
or someone who can’t be depended on, you won’t be perceived as trustworthy.
8. demonstrate confidence. Develop the admiration and respect of others by demon-
strating technical and professional ability. Pay particular attention to developing and
displaying your communication, negotiating, and other interpersonal skills.
Sources: Based on P. S. Shockley-Zalabak and S. P Morreale, “Building High-Trust
Organizations,” Leader to Leader, Spring 2011, 39–45; J. K. Butler Jr., “Toward Understanding
and Measuring Conditions of Trust: Evolution of a Condition of Trust Inventory,” Journal
of Management (September 1991): 643–63; and F. Bartolome, “Nobody Trusts the Boss
Completely—Now What?” Harvard Business Review, March–April 1989, 135–42.