building trust

Out of all the “regulars” I’ve interacted with in all the places I’ve worked, the strongest bonds have always been with the people that made me feel safe to be myself no matter what emotional state I was in.

When a manager assigns a team a difficult but achievable job, the moderate stress of the task releases neurochemicals, including oxytocin and adrenocorticotropin, that intensify people’s focus and strengthen social connections. When team members need to work together to reach a goal, brain activity coordinates their behaviors efficiently. But this... See more

The neuroscience shows that recognition has the largest effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it comes from peers, and when it’s tangible, unexpected, personal, and public. Public recognition not only uses the power of the crowd to celebrate successes, but also inspires others to aim for excellence. And it gives... See more

Being trusted to figure things out is a big motivator: A 2014 Citigroup and LinkedIn survey found that nearly half of employees would give up a 20% raise for greater control over how they work.

But if our fundamental goal is to create more relationships with each other, to build trust, enable collaboration and unlock creativity, we need to think more widely about the kinds of openness we need. We also need to consider the kinds of technological platforms, legal mechanisms and organisational structures that are necessary to support it.

Generative Engagement, as a model, is a way of thinking about how you make moment-by-moment choices to interact with others to create generative space between you. It asks that you consider three conditions* in your interactions to shape patterns of generative engagement.

• You stand together, sharing identity. You come together, across your

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Barry-Wehmiller Companies, a supplier of manufacturing and technology services, is a high-trust organization that effectively recognizes top performers in the 80 production-automation manufacturers it owns. CEO Bob Chapman and his team started a program in which employees at each plant nominate an outstanding peer annually. The winner is kept... See more

Organizations that share their “flight plans” with employees reduce uncertainty about where they are headed and why. Ongoing communication is key: A 2015 study of 2.5 million manager-led teams in 195 countries found that workforce engagement improved when supervisors had some form of daily communication with direct reports.

. Neuroscience experiments by my lab show that when people intentionally build social ties at work, their performance improves. A Google study similarly found that managers who “express interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being” outperform others in the quality and quantity of their work.