WELLBEING Building trust
Consider how trust is built. Previous performance is largely responsible for an individual’s reputation and as a result their perceived trustworthiness. However, levels of trust are dependent on the current time and actions being taken now. When a school faces challenges or changes, trust can decrease. Even though your reputation and the trust others have in you may have taken years to build, it can be quickly lost. Past performance is not the deciding factor, and we know only too well, the need to continually deliver results.
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n his latest column for Education Today MARK SOLOMONS, CEO of School Wellbeing Accelerator - an acclaimed wellbeing expert with over 12 years’ experience developing leadership and culture in UK schools and creator of Welbee a highly effective online evaluation and staff wellbeing improvement tool, winner of the ERA 2022 Wellbeing Award and GESS Judges Commendation Award 2022– discusses the importance of building trust as a leader.
TRUST – ‘Having a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone’ (Oxford Dictionary) Building a culture of trust pays dividends. It is also a key element to a healthy culture – the beating heart of every school or MAT. Trust is key to effective communication, collaboration, employee commitment and efficiency. It underpins stronger working relationships and greater creativity and innovation, generating solutions that deliver better results. Trust improves the engagement and wellbeing of staff, leading to improved retention and lower absences.
On the flip side, a low trust environment has a detrimental impact across the school or MAT. Distrust can stem from insecurity about a leader or manager’s ability to achieve goals; confusion about roles and responsibilities; a lack of transparency or misconceptions about decision making; poor communication and perceived unfairness or unpredictability, all of which can lead to dissatisfaction, gossiping and cliques. A lack of trust breeds suspicion about a leader’s agenda, motive, capacity or capability. Employees in low-trust environments are more inclined to do the minimum necessary to fulfil their role.
According to Stephen M R Covey, author of ‘The Speed of Trust’ (2006), trust comes from both character and competence. Character is built based on integrity, motive and intention; and competence is recognised through an individual’s capabilities, skills, results and track record. Both are vital to establish, grow,
extend and in some cases restore trust between all stakeholders in an organisation, and is therefore a ‘critical competency of leadership today’.
Ohio State University (2021) added an additional element, communication – ‘the willingness to share information, tell the truth, admit mistakes, and maintain confidentiality.’ Day to day this means; engaging in one to one conversations with staff; sharing clear expectations: praising the behaviours you want to observe and holding staff to account when performance or behaviours are not to the required standard.
Trust is an expectation that two parties will act in a way that is mutually beneficial; it is reciprocal, so as a leader or manager you must trust team members if you want their trust in return.
Having a positive reputation as someone who delivers results really does matter. It gives you credibility and means people are more likely to trust you.
And the good news is that trust is a learnable competency.
To be trustworthy you must consistently model behaviours that you expect from others: • Behave in a reliable and predictable manner • Deliver on promises and demonstrate commitment
• Talk respectfully about others and never behind their back - use the same language and comments when discussing an individual’s performance as you would if the person was in the room
• Act with integrity, honesty and fairness when making decisions
• Acknowledge mistakes and take responsibility for addressing them
• Act with humility and actively seek to praise others
• Keep the confidences of others • Display positive intent – for example supporting a team member who is underperforming
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Four steps to delivering results • Identify clear goals and outcomes with prioritised actions and timelines in which to achieve them. Once the goal and outcomes are outlined, allow staff to have some autonomy about implementation and how they achieve the goals. Trusting leaders give others space and understand how to provide support from a distance.
• Ensure that others understand your intent – the reasons behind your actions, ‘why’ you made that decision or are pursuing that goal – and that your reasons are positive and beneficial to others.
• Be confident, and create a climate of high expectations. Confidence also means admitting and accepting when mistakes happen - reflecting on them and developing a new understanding. This ‘intellectual humility’ shows you are open to other opinions and perspectives and willing to compromise. This fosters more positive relationships and encourages others to follow suit and be open and share their views. With more ideas being considered, there will be more creativity and engagement.
• Communicate clearly with all staff. Ensure everyone is informed and hears ‘the same message’, so your intentions are not misconstrued. Give staff the opportunity to ask questions so any misconceptions can be addressed.
The best way to improve performance is to turn a skill into a habit or become unconsciously competent.
Trust sits at the core of our relationships and is just as important in work as it is in our personal lives. Trust is underpinned by your behaviour and having confidence in others. In schools and MATs, if trust is a lived value and central to the school culture, staff will enjoy their work, collaborate more effectively and be more efficient and creative. Tasks get done quicker, are more likely to be completed and with more accuracy. There are fewer avoidable mistakes, and staff will take responsibility to solve problems. And staff wellbeing and retention improves, something we all want to see.
April 2023
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