How to lead in a low trust environment

There they sat, arms folded, avoiding eye contact.

You don’t have to be an expert in body language or emotional intelligence to know that these people weren’t interested in anything you had to say.

They had heard it all before. They had seen leaders like me pass by time and time again. Talking a lot, full of fresh enthusiasm, they meet with entrenched resistance, fry like moths against an electric light, and fade away again.

The leaders leave, and the workers remain, forced to follow.

If you’re facing a leadership challenge like this, you’re not alone. Many leaders have stepped into troubled cultures and aspire to make a change. Some do, many don’t.

This is where to start.

Seek to reduce mistrust, not build trust.

It feels counterintuitive. Shouldn’t we aspire to build trust? Of course we should aim for that, but we need to meet people where they are, not where we want them to be.

An organization with a long history of bad culture and conflict will not welcome us with open arms, no matter how amazing and genuinely passionate we are about wanting to make a big difference.

Our first goal is to reduce mistrust. We do it by LISTENING.

From a neuroscience point of view, if an individual feels threatened, they will be single-minded and focused on survival. In workplaces, this manifests itself in behaviors like jealousy, silos, and turf wars.

Our good news and utopian vision of positive change will fall on hostile ears until we give that pent-up resentment an outlet.

So listening is the order of the day.

Two key triggers are issues of equity and status. Here’s what to explore with people:

Listen to understand equity issues

• First ask what they think about fairness and why. Do they feel they have been treated fairly? Why or why not?
• Ask them what they would prefer instead.
• Although they may be very disappointed with the current status quo, ask what opportunity there might be in the situation that they may not have seen before.

Do not end the meeting until you are sure they have experienced some relief in the conversation.

Listen to understand the problems related to the state

• Listen personally to each person’s concern that their contribution be recognized and appreciated.
• Determine which status symbols are important to each person (title, privileges, access, parking, desk space).
• Ask them how they think their skills and experience could be put to better use.

Help them see where the gaps might be in their expertise and how they might close those gaps.

By listening deeply, paying attention to their responses, and creating movement through the issues, we push down the barrier of mistrust.

It’s not everything but it’s a good start.

Who do you need to have a conversation about equity and status with? What question will you start with?

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