The eight transactional traits of leadership trust
Image courtesy of Melanie Deziel on Unsplash
Trust is the most precious and tangible of ‘social commodities’ and one of the critical building blocks of leadership. With trust, we all know it when we see it and we know it when we feel it. Our approach to trust is often contradictory. At times we extend trust without even giving it a second thought and at other times we are cautious, deliberate and painstaking in our approach to trusting others.
In the name of trust, we follow in the footsteps of industry ground-breakers, market-place trailblazers and brand-name innovators. Our trust fuels the economic activity of nations, making it possible to trade, extend credit, attract investment and create wealth. Levels of trust both great and small are built on the evidence of what others say, what they do as well as what we experience. More often than not, the greater the belief we have, the greater the trust we extend.
Trust is highly transactional. The ‘economy of trust’ is built on the principle of reciprocity (rarely is trust extended without it). As such, there is a direct correlation between how people perceive us and how much they trust us. But what are the transactional traits of leadership trust? Well, set out below are the top eight.
1. Affirmation and verification
Have you ever passed through airport security? Well if you have, you would know that everyone is expected to present their travel documents at passport control to have their identity verified. Once that process is complete and documentation has been validated, the traveller is free to leave. Trust is therefore a leadership identity check as well as a method of assurance. It is a simple way of confirming that leaders are who they say they are. When people trust leadership they are essentially saying that: ‘your story checks out’. To that extent, trust (especially where it results in measureable influence) is the most powerful way in which leadership is validated.
2. Supply and demand
Trust operates on a supply and demand continuum. As well as being a social currency and commodity, trust is also a ‘consumer product’. In the same way as other goods and services, the demand for trust is insatiable. Due diligence notwithstanding, as citizens, consumers and customers we are constantly searching for leaders who are worthy of our trust and who will reward our faith by meeting our expectations. The essence of choice, the necessity for assurance as well as the complexity and ambiguity of the decision-making process, means that there are an unlimited number of factors that drive demand for trust. It is the pent up demand or want, that creates leadership diversity on the supply-side
3. Suspended logic and deferred reasoning
Trust in leadership is always logical, except on the occasions when it is not. On the face of it, everything about trust speaks to evidence of personal experience or at the very least the power of word of mouth. The idea therefore that we would ‘trust’ someone that we do not know to do something that they had not proved capable of and to a standard against which they have never been tested is plainly ridiculous. Be that as it may, suspension of logic and reasoning is an essential trait of leadership trust. This is because trust exists on a spectrum. At one end of that spectrum is absolute assurance based on previous experience and at the other, it is confidence that we place in blind faith.
4. The propensity for mutuality
People want to trust their leaders and leaders want to be trusted by others. The impulse to trust is not just a social desire it is also a basic need. Leaders want others to express confidence in them because it fulfils a want for social acceptance and self worth. For leaders, the wider they can make the circle of social acceptance around them, the greater the impact this has on their self value and worth. Similarly, followers want to trust leaders because it fulfils an equally important desire for safety and comfort. This is because when we trust in leadership, we do so hoping to indemnify ourselves against anxiety. Why does this matter? Well, in simple terms when we are less anxious, our emotional wellbeing is enhanced. That is that is the transaction.
5. Tribalism and conformity
Have you ever thought of trust as a form of ‘transactional tribalism’? Well that is exactly what it is. Think of your favourite brand, product or franchise. There is something quite tribal about wanting to belong, follow or fellowship with others who think like us and value the things that we value. Go to any football match and just soak in the atmosphere and remember how all of that is underpinned by a trust in the brand and what it represents. Extraordinarily, this trust is extended whether or not it is actually rewarded by results. Not only that but think of the sort of followership communities that cluster around our go to tech brands and favourite movie franchises. These are all driven by the want to trust in something as part of tribal community and social experience.
6. The desire to be inspired
Everyone wants to be inspired. The feelings that are engendered when we are inspired by leaders in particular make us feel good about ourselves. When leaders inspire us they encourage us to work harder in pursuit of our objectives, strengthen our resolve when times are tough and create a chain reaction by motivating us to motivate others. Therefore, whether we realise it or not, leaders who inspire us, also empower us. This in turn enables us to see things that might not have been obvious and do things that we might not have otherwise done. However, none of this happens without the validation that comes from the transaction of trust. It is only when we trust in a leader whose back-story, lived experience or ideology inspires us, that a chain reaction is triggered that compels us to action.
7. Socialised accountability and ‘remote control’
Often-times, trust is an exercise in mitigating risk by socialising accountability. Acknowledging the limitations and boundaries of our own capability and capacity to manage events, is never easy. However, there are occasions when the decision to trust in leaders, amounts to both an acceptance of our own ‘mortality’ as well as the desire to shield ourselves from accountability if it goes wrong. To that extent, trust is a cocktail of surrender and sovereignty. In other words it is an expression of both the desire to submit, as well as the hope of retaining ‘remote control’.
8. Optimism and desperation
We trust in leaders because we hope and we trust them because we fear. Hope based trust is often completely illogical. Driven by irrational expectation, it flies in the face of available evidence and is instead fuelled by gut instinct and unshakeable belief. When trust is transacted through hope, it is characterised by unfettered optimism. In the same way, fear can be just as powerful a driver of trust. Faced with the full weight of consequences, damage or harm, it is sometimes easier to look outwards for solutions from leaders than to focus inwards and rely on one’s self.
In conclusion, trust is dynamic. It knows no distance, no borders or boundaries and operates across cultures and demographics. It is also a highly transactional measure of leadership value, to the extent that the more that those whom we trust, prove their trustworthiness, the more we trust them. For leaders, whether they be individuals or large corporations, the message is clear; trust is a form of social investment and shareholding. When we invest in our leaders we do so believing that we are investing in something of value and in the expectation that something of value will produce something in return. Therefore, if trust is the substance of the investment, then trustworthiness is the dividend of the return.
