Power of Trust

The Power of Trust
In a recent team meeting, I was asked to write an article or blog; I’m told it’s a great way of reaching a broad audience. The key blogger in our team is Client Director, Matt Robinson, naturally, I turned to Matt for guidance on what to write about, “something about Map Room to demonstrate our capabilities to the audience” came the reply – the resultant soliloquy will almost certainly fail to meet that brief!
I’ve read a lot of articles and posts which, to be candid, are superficial or click-bait, it is a pet hate… “look at me and what I’ve managed to generate on Chat GPT about {insert random hot topic} surely you want to talk to me!”. So in meeting the teams’ request and keen to avoid those stereotypes, I wanted to share an experience and learning from my personal experience leading the Map Room team.
For those who don’t know me or our business, at Map Room we work across financial and consumer services as a Practitioner led consultancy, our experience is first-hand, and our teams are built on field-based expertise. All Map Room colleagues have operated and successfully delivered in the specialisms on which they now consult. Over five years we have moved from a small team of consultants to hundreds of colleagues operating across clients, markets and specialisms. Plug over.
I have had the pleasure of nurturing the business and the team since 2018, most recently as the Managing Partner and have lived and breathed the challenges and successes with the team. Trying to build a challenger consultancy whilst remaining true to your core values and overarching strategy can at times be a swashbuckling adventure, every day brings new opportunities and obstacles to overcome, without question the last five years have been the most formative of my career to date. There are so many things which I could talk about or learnings I could share from this journey but the one which stands out most and perhaps is often not widely discussed is the power of trust.
Now, recognising we operate in highly complex and regulated environments, I am not talking about operating on trust alone (risk and control leaders breathe a sigh of relief!), this is not a blog about “hunch-based” leadership or listening to your chakra when making decisions. I am talking about the power of trust in developing a business and the role it plays in building high-performing teams, relationships, and commercial engagements.
Trust plays such an important role in how I operate and I’m sure that’s true of many of you reading this, yet nobody ever really talks about it. I must have attended hundreds of management meetings, leadership development workshops and coaching sessions yet I cannot recall a single discussion about trust and how important it is, both in the positive and destructive sense. Trust is such an important part of our psychological make-up as humans and a critical enabler in relationships. Perhaps the word “trust” opens us up to the perception of fallibility, that maybe we don’t have our professional lives locked down to the limit, with all risks managed, mitigated and captured!
In recent months, the Map Room team have been working with Deborah Bulcock, a professional coach and mentor and very good at it too, also a best-selling author (shameless plug invoice in the post). I asked her to contribute to this blog and to answer a simple question in her capacity as a critical thinker in this space – what is trust? “Nice easy one” was her immediate response. Too true, it is hard to define it when you examine that question in detail, there are many lenses and perspectives through which that question can be answered, however, after consideration the following definition from Deborah arrived in my inbox:
“Trust is the bedrock of great relationships and compelling company cultures, and as such, is fundamental to people thriving, performing, and enjoying life and work. It enables ideas to be shared and progressed, problems to be aired and resolved, relationships to form deeply, and ultimately for people to operate at their best. It requires connection, authenticity, compassion, and vulnerability. It’s one of those values that we don’t give conscious everyday thought to unless it’s not there or has been broken. Then we know about it. And once trust has gone, it’s near impossible to repair.”
Deborah Bulcock
Coach and Author
I feel this blog could probably end here. The concise summary provided resonates strongly with me particularly the veracity of the statement “It’s one of those values that we don’t give conscious everyday thought to, unless it’s not there or has been broken”.
Trust plays a vital role in both my day-to-day role and the overall strategic success of Map Room and it’s something I have become much more aware of in recent years, particularly as we have grown and as a leader, I am becoming more detached from the minutiae of everyday delivery. I look at trust through three lenses, unconditional trust, trust by agency and structural trust.
Unconditional Trust
Without question, it is the rarest and most impactful form of trust that we can experience as humans. This trust has no bounds, no limit of elasticity, it stems from a position of emotional submission to the trusted party, there is no question in our minds that the acts, words and deeds of the person in whom our trust is placed are selfless and reciprocated.
Few can build this, for many of us, this kind of trust is reserved for our parents, our closest kin, who in our minds unquestionably have our best interests at heart. These are the people we turn to in our time of need, for protection, honesty and wisdom. It can be an epiphanic experience to consider how many people, if any, you hold in this regard or greater, who hold this regard for you.
If I look to whom I trust unconditionally, honestly, very few people, it can be a lonely place. My Dad was my anchor of unconditional trust, a man whom I respected at both emotional and intellectual levels and whose guidance I miss unrelentingly. In his absence, I am lucky to have two business partners in Barney Collins and Zoe Evans who never fail to offer sage wisdom and a receptive ear, alongside my wife and a very small circle of friends whom I respect and who are all successful in their own right.
For me, there is a slight nuance of unconditional trust, and it is reserved for those whom we feel have attained a particular level of competence and therefore can be unconditionally trusted by default or those in whom we already hold agency trust and their words, deeds and actions towards us have zero impact on their advancement. For example, a particular pastime of mine is trying (desperately) to be a better golfer, in doing so I work closely with a professional tutor – my trust in his advice, guidance and tutelage is unconditional, he will forget more about a golf swing than I will ever learn and imparting his guidance onto me serves him no material advancement.
I firmly believe that great leaders can come close to achieving unconditional trust, at the very least, this level of trust is something which all leaders should aspire to build even if it may never be fully attained. This cannot be achieved through seniority or superiority, the notion of trust by rank grates against every fibre of my being, the worst type of leadership and we all know individuals who operate like this.
From a personal perspective, I’ll never have a full understanding of the level of trust my colleagues place in me, I can ask, but it’s unlikely I will ever receive a complete and uncompromised answer. The gap in my awareness should not inhibit the means and method in which I operate to foster this level of trust, regardless of the end outcome, the inputs are beneficial and rewarding.
Collaboration – perhaps the most powerful modus operandi you can choose as a leader. Many years ago, when starting my career as a graduate I had the opportunity to engage closely with Neville Richardson, CEO of the former Britannia Building Society. The grad programme I participated in also included several now very senior individuals at very large and well-known firms so I won’t name them (for trust reasons!) but in a workshop with Neville one of them once asked him how he felt about people using the phrase “Neville says…” in passive deference to him as the oracle who decreed how the business should run day to day. His response has stayed with me for nearly twenty years, in the context of frustration that his name was being used as a business lubricant he said, “I can’t do anyone’s job better than they can and if I could, I wouldn’t need them”.
Over time I have learned just how true this statement is. You cannot do everything, there are not enough hours in the day and guess what…you don’t know everything (or your ego doesn’t!). For me, Map Room cannot be successful or congruent as a business without people who think, act, and operate differently, it’s what makes us a great place to work and fostering a culture built on differing but accepted views or, ways of working, are building blocks of a high-performing team. Approaching colleagues in this way, engaging, and collaborating rather than directing is incredibly powerful and can only foster trust between parties. It takes discipline to operate in this way and I don’t always get this right, but it’s a skill and an approach which is at the forefront of my professional consciousness.
Integrity – we as humans have a unique talent in the kaleidoscope of life and it’s not one replicated by any other species, a human USP…our ability to lie and spot a liar. This skill is unique to us as we operate across multiple sensory disciplines but most importantly, language – spoken, written, and physical. Knowingly or unknowingly, attempting to deceive an individual or a team is catastrophic for the trust of a leader, or a peer and we are often put in positions within business where our integrity is tested.
Our interactions with others, particularly where in a position of responsibility are just an ongoing series of “moments of truth” and this places us in precarious situations. My learning is that declared honesty is always the best approach, even if that creates temporary discomfort. You do not need to look far to find the antithesis of this, simply consider the behaviour of the political classes and your feelings towards them.
There are things which we can say, openly, candidly and without limitation, in these scenarios just say it. There’s no power in deception, no gain from creating a mystery where one need not exist, it is damaging to trust and therefore culture, to withhold information or create a deceptive narrative rather than be transparent and direct with your team. There are situations where those in positions of responsibility have sensitive information, this may be legitimate sensitivity and therefore information must be withheld temporarily or indefinitely. From a trust viewpoint, we should not underestimate the resilience of our colleagues and their ability to operate under uncertainty.
My experience has been that if there are situations or information which must remain sensitive and withheld, being frank and forthright with the team about this is the best approach. There is no value in pretending situations do not exist or denying the existence of specific information where colleagues are thoughtful or aware that it should or is in existence. In this scenario, having the integrity to be transparent to the point of acknowledging the situation and to have the fibre to explain why disclosure cannot take place coupled with any timescale for when an information vacuum may be removed is received infinitely more positively than attempting to deceive or deny.
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”
Albert Einstein
Genius
Sedulity – there is no hope of fostering trust as a leader if we are not prepared to put ourselves in the trenches and show commitment and diligence to the cause. There is nothing ground-breaking in this statement, it is as old as civilisation. Those who lead from the front and who demonstrate a willingness to expose themselves to situations into which we are charged with placing others invariably create greater levels of trust within their teams.
A core value proposition for Map Room is that we are Practitioner led, which means our leadership (in fact everyone who works for us) has operated in the specialisms and delivered in roles upon which they now consult. One of the benefits of a team built in this way is that everyone in our business, including our leadership, understands and can operate in the detail. Whilst it is important to maintain balance, both myself and the leadership team regularly drop into the “doing” both to help put the shoulder to the wheel and over-deliver for customers, but also to actively demonstrate to our teams that we are not asking them to do things we are not prepared to do ourselves.
Whilst this may be perceived as a minor in the grand scheme of building a successful business, for me it is so important that I and the wider leadership of the business demonstrate their continued willingness, energy and enthusiasm for delivery at all levels.
Redundancy – No, not in the literal sense! Perhaps the crystallising component of trust in leadership is the ability of the leader to let go, to effectively relinquish the physical or emotional position of leadership towards an individual or team.
“Leaders should lead as far as they can and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit”.
H.G. Wells
Author
Reflecting on previous points, we can collaborate, consistently operate with integrity and work with the utmost sedulity but at the point which someone develops their capability or competency beyond the role, team, or organisation they are in to then be restricted, stifled, or contained by their leader – the hard work and endeavour to build trust is damaged if not broken. Great leaders accept and value attrition and one indicator of a great leader is how many of their people are lost to upward attrition.
My learning here is acceptance of the direct correlation of risk between the success of our teams and the likelihood they will leave. The better you perform, the greater the skillset, the stronger the delivery, the increased market value of the team. It’s not easy to accept this, particularly where you are working towards a vision and shaping plans, people and culture to deliver that vision – nonetheless, this must be considered a positive, the ongoing trust of you as a leader depends on the unconditional commitment that you will provide everything possible to help your teams succeed, regardless of the risk that this investment may reap benefits for another party down the line.
Trust by Agency
When building the Map Room team I have, for the most part, found myself gravitating towards building our teams with skilled individuals who are known to us, whom we have met before and seen them working. There is nothing particularly revolutionary in this, I’m sure many of us would take this route. I am however interested in the theory of why this is, there is a world of talent out there in the market, yet more often than not, I find myself seeking to hire known quantities.
The lazy reflections here would be that it’s a deleveraging of risk; surrounding yourself with people you like – I don’t believe this to be true. The reason we gravitate towards this approach is trust by agency, it’s trust which has been earned in the field, where we have had the opportunity to see people’s character delivering in the most complex and challenging of circumstances. This form of trust is mutual, it’s reciprocated and it’s incredibly powerful.
I would liken this trust to that developed by soldiers in battle, albeit our commercial lives are far less dangerous. Much of my professional career and that of my current leadership team at Map Room has been high-profile, high-risk and often regulatorily scrutinised activities, where stress and consequences are high for all involved. Collectively we have led or played leading roles in six major enforcement actions, for anyone who has experienced an s166 at any level will appreciate the level of complexity, pressure and at times the Machiavellian behaviours which have to be overcome to deliver these successfully. They are a test of fortitude as much as skill and firmly open the Johari window!
“The only thing that makes battle psychologically tolerable is the brotherhood among soldiers. You need each other to get by”.
Sebastian Junger
Journalist, Writer
There are individuals whom I have worked with for a year, maybe slightly longer, with whom I have a lifetime trust bond, purely based on shared experiences and our entwined endeavour to overcome the odds, to go the extra mile to get things done. It’s such a powerful tool if you can harness this trust and build a team with these shared experiences and positive regard toward each other.
In my experience of developing a team, particularly in hiring for key leadership positions, the success rate or “stick-rate” where trust by agency exists is 100%, even if ultimately those individuals move on to new ventures in the future, I will still consider their contributions to our team as a complete success. At scale, this is not always possible, but my advice to anyone else trying to build a successful team would be to at least have one, at least ensure you have one person in your team with this kind of trust, where you only need to exchange looks to know what the other is thinking.
Structural Trust
As businesses grow, so do our levels of risk acceptance. We shift our level of control upwards from “hands-on” to frameworks, structures, and processes. Elon Musk does not know every individual at Space X (he might actually – perhaps X/Twitter would be a better example!) He creates the environment and controls for teams to be successful and trusts them to deliver.
At scale, we cannot personally know everyone and it’s not realistic to think that trust by agency will exist in every scenario, so we move that trust into frameworks. We place our trust in controls and in the efficacy of those controls in delivering our desired outcomes. Trust in these controls needs to be present for everyone for the structure to be successful.
In the context of Map Room, we have and continue to invest significant energy, time and resources into the ongoing enhancement and expansion of our business architecture and structural control. This development takes three primary forms, firstly, the frameworks in place for our customers to ensure we continually deliver beyond their expectations, second, the control of our internal models, process, policies and architecture, third and not least, for our people – all three are afforded equal focus and effort. As I write this, our Operational Excellence lead is sitting in the room opposite, mapping, refining and capturing controls of our onboarding process through various lenses, to make it a better experience for all involved. We will do this relentlessly as we continue to scale.
We have a particular skill set in our teams which might seem antithetical to the desired result – we are great at recognising where we have made a mistake and owning it. If there is something I am most proud of in our story so far, it’s the creation of a culture where people do not feel the need to hide, deflect or cover their own proverbial.
For me, this is the measure of trust in a scaling team. We trust that our processes and controls are effective in identifying an issue, we trust each other to a level where we are comfortable in admitting and owning that issue without fear or favour and we trust our leadership to respond rather than react.
“Trust doesn’t mean that you trust that someone won’t screw up—it means you trust them when they do screw up.”
Ed Catmull, CEO, Pixar.