Trust

There are three things I give my team. The first thing is trust.

I don’t know how teams can operate effectively without it. I’ve seen plenty of teams operate in dysfunction, and plenty of teams fail without it. When there is trust, conversations can happen without a filter.

Trust became something I had to give to my team without question when I was at Harbor Freight Tools. I ran the retail software systems while my boss led a new implementation. I had been there less than six months when rumors were circling of a firing at the leadership level in our department. I walked into my boss’ office and asked, point blank, “I hear John and Susie are being fired. Is there any truth to that?”

He told me with a straight face, “No, that would be news to me.” A few hours later, he was part of the team, making an all-hands announcement about their firings. Not only did he withhold the information—his prerogative—he lied to me on a direct question. When that happened, I walked over to a different director, someone I trusted, and I let them know I needed to change teams or leave. I couldn’t work with someone I didn’t trust.

I had always given my team's trust before this incident, but it solidified that it was a core value that I had to offer to my teams. If you ask my team, the people who work directly for me, they’ll tell you I give them the feedback and truth from the top if I think it will help them do their jobs more effectively.

I won’t lie to them or give them the “company line.” That is backward. If they ask me point-blank a question that they aren’t privy to, it’s better that I give them a non-answer than the wrong answer or a lie. I can’t betray that trust because I’ll never get it back.

I tell people what they need to do their job: company info, personnel issues, or potential business problems. I don’t share information just to share it. I’m purposeful about keeping my team informed so they can excel at their job. There is a very fine line between what is confidential and what is business critical. You’ll need to learn human resources (HR) practices and partner with your HR or legal resources if necessary.

A big part of this is not bullshitting your team. The value of any short-term gains by feeding them a line to buy time is easily outweighed by long-term losses of trust.

One takeaway:

Be authentic, and never give your team a reason to distrust you