U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher, Dec. 5, 2019.
Trust is a bedrock characteristic of the Army profession and leaders at all levels are expected to build it within their organizations. It is mentioned 196 times in the Army’s 132-page manual on leadership. Most importantly, trust is a critical enabling principle of our approach to the command and control of forces in combat. Our philosophy for action encourages adaptation. In simple terms, Army leaders tell subordinates what to do but not how to do it. This is surprisingly rare in other armies, but it allows us to adapt when conditions change and puts responsibility for decision-making in the hands of those with the new information. Our philosophy of mission command is epitomized by and cannot function without – trust.
If trust is so critical, we must know what it is. Saying we know it when we see it is not good enough. The word must have substance. Doctrine describes trust as “…shared confidence between commanders, subordinates, and partners that they can be relied on and are competent in performing their assigned tasks” but this single entry leaves us wanting for more.
If we intend to build trust in our organizations and our lives, we require greater understanding of what trust is. Expanding on the Army’s description, I offer an examination of trust as three things: faith, expertise, and sincerity.
Having faith that someone will do what they said, is a basic and simple description of trust. It is a belief without evidence that some person or organization will follow through on intention. For the trusted, it is the alignment of word and deed. Through basic, it is the bedrock of most trust relationships because we can observe and assess action. It is much easier to trust when there is a history to observe but faith does not require evidence. To build trust, you start with a leap of faith – giving someone a task, however small, that starts to show alignment of word and deed.
Unfortunately, we all have experienced times of failure despite good intentions leaving faith a critical factor but not enough to fully describe trust. Without expertise, faith is simply an affirmation that a person or organization will attempt an endeavor. Accomplishment requires knowledge. Trust is knowing a person or organization has the requisite skill to accomplish what they are entrusted to do. I trust my spouse unequivocally, but I do not trust her to give me a root canal. She has no expertise in this area regardless of her intention. Developing expertise, like obtaining a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery), would go a long way to building trust.
Faith and expertise are excellent indicators of reliability, but again, we all experience situations when both are present but still, trust is lacking. That is because trust is also a feeling of human connectedness. It is the feeling of sincerity – that a person or organization is honest, truthful, and without pretense. This is the most difficult area to build because it can only be built by the trusted party. If you lose trust in something because of an action, only that something can redeem your trust. Arguably, building a feeling of sincerity requires multiple engagements over time with the trusted party at the helm.
Building trust requires action on both ends, by the trusting and the trusted. To explore trust further, I recommend Stephen Covey’s book The Speed of Trust as a starter. According to Covey, the health of trust relationships is the most significant predictor of an individual’s satisfaction within their organization. So let’s start this conversation: how do you build trust?
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LTC L’Heureux is currently an instructor at the School of Command Preparation. An Armor officer, he served primarily in cavalry and infantry assignments within Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with operational experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Europe.