Et tu Brute….!

Trust… Is it just a tattered thread in the deceptive corporate fabric?

“Et tu, Brute?” the axiom is often used philosophically to epitomize the betrayal of the trust. The phrase turned legendary, due to William Shakespeare’s play, as the last words of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar to his devoted friend Marcus Brutus at the time of his assassination. Literally the catchphrase translates to “And you, Brutus?” or “You too, Brutus?”The irony is when we deceive someone’s trust, first unconsciously we betray ourselves.

How often do we encounter Brutus in our life?

All the time, we evaluate others on trust factor. The process is instinctual and sensitive. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the great German philosopher, very aptly expressed, “I am not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now I can’t believe you.” Any single defilement can irreparably put an end to a very healthy relationship. Trusting someone cannot guarantee invulnerability from disappointments. No one can give that reassurance. Because, the kernel of trust is not in its dilemma, but in its possibilities. However, many social scientists do believe that few individuals are more predisposed to  trust than others, almost certainly conditioned to how much their trust has been honored in past.

Yet, the bigger question is “can we imagine a world without trust?”

It is a circumlocutory question and the answer is not that innocent.

The fact is whether we are in corporate or in personal life, every relationship hinges on trust. Unusually, trust is not just a uni-dimensional occurrence (trust or no Trust), but it progressively matures (a continuum) and becomes more spirited. It just does not merely proliferates or moderates in magnitude but it builds over a period of time in strength and intensity. We cannot be artificial with trust. Trust is not tactical. It cannot be used as an accessory for our convenience. Nonetheless, we often take trust for granted. Shrewd and deceitful operators easily sway trust of naive individuals around them. Without appreciating that it is tough to rebuild the trust. It demands lots of magnanimity on the part of an individual to knowingly forgive a detractor.

I am currently limiting this blog to only corporate world.

Today, with pervasive uncertainties in global economy and political environment, we are living with an element of perpetual disbelief. In such circumstances, trust is even more essential for every enterprise to endure dependability. It has become an indispensable prerequisite for the success of any business now than ever before. Trust in an organisation is a subtle advantage unfalteringly reliant on the mental make-up of leadership team.

Fascinatingly, after attaining certain size and complexity, most of the organisations conduct in habitually similar pattern, particularly when sensible time and effort are least capitalized in organisation building. Patric Lencioni, in his timeless book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, illustrated ‘Absence of Trust’ at the bottom of the dysfunctional pyramid. He talked about ‘being averse to be vulnerable within the group’ at the core of the dysfunctionality.

Lack of trust observably reflects into internal antagonism leading to silos and complete crumpling of communication. A CEO may further unknowingly instigate the need for functional and geographical distinctions at the cost of team work. Eventually functional and individual goals take precedence over shared purpose. Such functional coteries resist collaboration at work. It seriously interferes with industrious and cohesive approach towards work. More so, if you have culturally diverse global teams.

But if you dive deep into the web of silos , every issue ultimately revolves around the trust.

It is almost unmanageable to work in an organisation without fortifying mutual trust. An inclusive leader has a role obligation to promote mutual trust by rewarding cooperation and not shoving down ambitious unattainable goals to create a degenerative work climate. He has to be instrumental in exterminating all the fences in a value chain. Every member of the organisation has to appreciate that there is no purpose of his existence, unless he relates to others for a logical sequencing of the functional objectives… lubricating relationships with complete trust, respect, and integrity. Otherwise, treasured team energy gets diverted into resolving interpersonal issues.

I have narrowly witnessed a fortuitous CEO, who literally eliminated all potential peers by deceptively manipulating the board of the company to avoid any possible future competition. He obstinately worked in a programmed manner to create an impermissible team of pigmies around him. Just to safeguard  his internal insecurities, he gambled to misplace the trust of the board, his peers, and rest of the organisation. As result, organization started limping. Earned disgraceful allegations, and lost enormous business opportunities. He is successful in unceasingly diverting failures to others, without recognizing that the CEO is assumed to hold the ultimate responsibility for organisation performance.He is still thriving in the system and the stakeholders’ are blindly trusting and continuing with a flimsy leader. Disappointingly, the larger lesson is still ‘unlearned’ for the stakeholder,that is, not to repose unconditional trust in the face of continuous miscarriages. At CEO level,  trust infers a fiduciary duty towards stakeholders and that cannot be absolved.

In my view, trust in an organization is all about the people’s expectation of the confidence in their superior’s conduct and motives. When team perceives a promise of objectivity and fairness of judgement from their leader, mutual trust blooms. When there is consistency in communication and transparency in action, trust builds up. Regrettably, at times, leaders become overconfident, not because of their effective endeavors, but for the false sense of position power. More so, if one is a weak and insecure leader. For him, organisation and people become incidental. He consciously believes that there is a gap between him and the team. He remains discourteously engaged in short sighted abortive decisions without any guilt. An organization with compromised trust is just an assemblage of crowd. Irrespective of the best of professionals, it may never reach to its crowning potential.

I am concluding this page by simply asserting that trust is not just a tattered thread in the corporate fabric but the reason for giving it most lustrous finish.

Trust is bliss. We are inadequate if we distrust. Quoting the great mystic Rahim’s verse is so apposite here,”when you snap the tread of love and respect, it would not join again…and if it does, there would be a knot forever…”

Trust is within you…It is a quality in you.