“Trust has to be earned,” goes the old adage. But why? How different would the workplace be if we lived in the expectation that our people would do right by themselves, by their company, by us?
I can’t think of any moment in my career when not trusting people has worked out well for me. I can’t think at any moment when trusting people has gone badly.
Not blind trust. Another old adage still stands firm: “Trust in God, but lock your car.” I mean trust that people will do the right thing. Trust that they will do the work.
Trust is almost always repaid. And when it’s not, don’t let one person, one instance of broken trust, spoil it for everyone else. One untrustworthy person doesn’t make everyone untrustworthy.
This post first appeared on my Linkedin profile.