Trust makes the workplace tick

In a small gathering of 7 professionals who had never met each other previously, I was struck by the level of trust we engendered in just 90 minutes. I was happy to see it happen spontaneously since my experience tells me work gets done in a culture of trust and a lack of it fractures an organization.

At McKinsey, I witnessed blind trust on a daily basis. One person in particular, Meg, an engagement manager from Chicago, was leading my co-workers through a crunch. She knew she needed all hands on deck to achieve the size of the analysis we would deliver in 2 days. She assigned tasks to each of us and we sat around the table crunching. You say, yeah, so what, what makes her so special?  Well, Meg had never met or worked with half of us previously, yet somehow, she assigned each person a task that played to their strengths.

I remember Meg was in the window for promotion to associate principal and one of her teammates was enthusiastically rooting for her. And as I worked with her into the night, I too came to value the special sauce she had. I expected to hear of her promotion imminently as it appeared to be a slam-dunk. Imagine my surprise to discover that she had not received the promotion and moved to a new company in an excellent role shortly afterward. What a sad loss for us. She was a person that everyone wanted to work with - let me assure you - a rarity, indeed.

In social network language, trust makes networks work. Gideon Rosenblatt explains clearly why trust is important in the workplace.

When I trust you, it makes it easier for me to deal with the increased risk that comes from lowering my guard. When I trust you, I open myself so that it’s easier for us to collaborate. I tell you what I’m really thinking, set aside formality and shift my focus from figuring out your intentions to actually getting work done together. Organizations that trust each other can safely set aside formal agreements and rigid processes and replace them lighter weight ways of working together. 

During my time at McKinsey, I received calls and emails exhibiting blind trust that I could help, wanted to help, and would be receptive to any approach or timeline. In turn, I enjoyed blind trust as they accepted my advice and counsel intelligently and collaboratively - every interaction was a learning experience for both parties. 

Now I search for a company that values trust and engenders trust in its culture. Is that too much to ask?

Off I go now to form some more creature connections.