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by 

Nan Russell

Aug 1, 2017

15 Ways We Derail Trust at Work

How mindful are you when it comes to your personal impact on trust at work? Are you contributing to the derailment of trust without even knowing it? Find out. 


Social media and a 24/7 news-frenzy fuel distrust no matter one's political leanings. From governmental leaks to behind closed door healthcare dismantling, we live in times of intrigue, spin, rumor, jockeying, and miscommunication; some deliberate, some not. And all of that being accelerated and highlighted via technology. No wonder trust in government nears historic lows.


While most of us don't work in such politically charged, made-for-reality-TV workplaces, we do encounter similar missteps, even mini-dramas, impacting trust levels in our own work groups of peers, staff, coworkers, and leaders.


While it's easy to point fingers or notice others' trust-derailing behaviors, it is difficult to create personal awareness about our own. In reality, we all contribute to the trust or distrust levels where we work, often through unintentional, mindless behaviors that diminish trust.


There are numerous ways we can spark distrust at work; below are a few. Whether you're someone's leader or coworker, consider how many of these behaviors are true, more often than not, for you.


15 Mindless Ways to Sabotage and Derail Trust in Your Work Group:

  1. Focus on your "win" without thinking how it's achieved or its impact on others

  2. Ignore standards, values, policies, approaches teammates are expected to follow

  3. Operate with 20th-century thinking in a 21st-century world; stop learning at work

  4. Treat your small work issues, needs, or problems as five-alarm fires

  5. Practice "cordial hypocrisy" -- i.e. "pretend trust when there is none."

  6. Be unresponsive to requests that aren't of personal interest or importance to you

  7. Share confidential information from or about others


Interested in creating more trust at work? Checkout my book: Trust, Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture that Will Ignite Passion, Engagement, and Innovation

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