Dysfunction 1: Absence of Trust

Dysfunction 1: Absence of Trust, page 195.

Unfortunately, the word trust is used –and misused– so often that has lost some of its impact and begins to sound like motherhood and apple pie.
In the context of building a team, trust is the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group.
Teammates must be comfortable being vulnerable with one another and confident that their respective vulnerabilities will not be used against them.
These vulnerabilities include weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal shortcomings, mistakes, and requests for help.
It is only when team members are truly comfortable being exposed to one another that they begin to act without concern for protecting themselves.
Achieving vulnerability-based trust is difficult. This is because in the course of career advancement and education, most successful people learn to be competitive with their peers, and protective of their reputations.
It is a challenge for them to turn those instincts off for the good of a team, but that is exactly what is required.
Teams that lack trust waste inordinate amounts of time and energy managing their behaviors and interactions within the group.
Teams that lack trust dread team meetings, and are reluctant to take risks in asking for or offering assistance to others.

Members of Teams with an Absence of Trust…

Conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another.
Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback.
Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility.
Jump to conclusions about the intentions and attitudes of others without attempting to clarify them.
Fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills and experiences.
Waste time and energy managing their behavior for the effect.
Hold grudges.
Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together.

Members of Trusting Teams…

Admit weaknesses and mistakes.
Ask for help.
Accept questions and input about their areas of responsibility.
Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion.
Take risks and offer feedback and assistance.
Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills and experiences.
Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.
Offer and accept apologies without hesitation.
Look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work as a group.

Suggestions for Overcoming Dysfunction One

Unfortunately, the vulnerability base trust cannot be achieved overnight.
Vulnerability-Based Trust requires:
- Shared experiences over time.
- Multiple instances of follow-through and credibility.
- An in-depth understanding of the unique attributes of team members.
However, by taking a focused approach, a team can dramatically accelerate the process.

Tools for accelerating trust building:

Team Effectiveness Exercise (60 minutes):
Go around the table during a meeting and have team members answer:
- The single most important contribution that each of their peers makes to the team.
- One area that each peer must either improve upon or eliminate for the good of the team.
- The beginning focus should be directed toward the team leader.

The Role of the Leader

The most important action that the leader must take to encourage the building of trust is to demonstrate vulnerability first.
Team leaders must create an environment that does not punish vulnerability.
Displays of vulnerability on the part of the team leader must be genuine; they cannot be staged.

Connection to Dysfunction 2

By building trust, a team makes conflict possible. Team members do not hesitate to engage in passionate and sometimes emotional debate.

Predictive Index