Where there is no trust

Imagine a scenario: A nervous employee steps into his boss's office and, after gathering his courage, asks, "Can I get a raise?" The boss barely looks up and says: "Because of the fluctuational predisposition of your position's productive capacity as juxtaposed to the industry standards, it would be monetarily injudicious to advocate an increment."

- FRANCIS J. KONG

Then, he goes back to banging the keyboard of his computer. The worker frowns and finally says, "I don't get it!" Without looking at the person, the boss says: "That's right!"

In another tale, an employee at his boss's funeral quietly murmurs, "Who's thinking outside the box now, Boss?"

These humorous anecdotes capture a troubling workplace reality: the impact of low trust. When trust is lacking, the relationship between the leader and the team is weakened. Titles may give authority, but without trust, that authority means little.

And this problem is all too common. A report from HR consultancy DDI reveals that only 46 percent of leaders trust their direct managers to act in their best interest, and even fewer—under one-third—trust their senior leaders. Workers who don't trust their team leader are less likely to listen and are less engaged, innovative, and productive.

I emphasize this point in my leadership seminars: "Trust and respect must be earned." Titles and positions may give authority, but any workplace can quickly become dysfunctional without trust.

The side effects of this lack of trust are sobering. Here are just a few ways diminished trust impacts teams:

People pretend to listen