Transforming Corporate Culture requires Trust

Since being selected in 1Q 2022 to represent not only my organization, its division, but also my country location as a member of the IBM Manager Champion Group for that year, I frequently used the above virtual background in my web based calls.

Working remotely had been my norm since well before the pandemic: that in itself deserves a separate post, especially since I have returned to a 3/2 split of office/home working in 2024. Yet it's inextricably linked to the main topic I've been ruminating on lately: corporate culture.

The terms of manager and leader have been co-cited often at my employer's. However, I believe we are all capable of behaving like leaders, whether or not we have the responsibilities and privileges afforded to us to perform managerial duties.

The Growth Behaviours (note my Canadian spelling, unlike in the picture) as we have been encouraged to embody, consist of the following topics: 

Growth Minded 

• by staying curious and open to feedback, experimentation, learning from everyone, and focusing on solutions not the problems.

Trusted

• by being candid, open and transparent so that our teams feel empowered and accountable.

Team Focused

• by building inclusive relationships with respect and empathy and collaborating across the business to drive organizational outcomes.

Courageous

• by thinking independently, taking risks, and making critical decisions in tough situations.

Resourceful

• by being resilient, both personally and in business, and being creative with what we have.

Outcome Focused

• by testing the status quo and using a customer-centered and nimble approach in everything we do.

Of the above, Trusted is the one behaviour that I perceive as the most critical and foundational to enabling all the other behaviours:

• When you trust those around you, you will naturally seek out knowledge and advice from them. You feel comfortable in admitting to not know everything, and trust enables a safe space in which to experiment.
  
• Trust is key to building an authentic rapport with anyone: that they will reveal their individuality, admit to having struggles, to share themselves with vulnerability.
  
• It's easier to take risks and controversial decisions when you trust those around you to not punish you for being courageous, and also easier to offer what may seem to be outlandish ideas when you can trust your situation to freely think creatively.
• When trust facilitates effective networking and teamwork, it opens doors to unforeseen opportunities and creative problem solving through new perspectives, resources, and possibilities - in other words, trust unlocks resourcefulness.
• With trust enabling teamwork, true agility is made possible. With trust between you and your customers, stakeholders, and upline too, better communication can permit teams to proactively head off problems at the onset and steer themselves to desired outcomes.

Furthermore, trust is only possible to build and maintain through effective communication, consistency, an establishing of reliable actions that serve to reinforce, not undermine one's words. Trust is all too easily and quickly lost.