Trust
Trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. In organizational and social contexts, trust serves as the foundational glue for Cooperation, communication-strategies, and psychological-safety.
Core Dimensions
- Cognitive Trust: Based on competence, reliability, and predictability.
- Affective Trust: Based on emotional bonds, care, and interpersonal relationships.
- Institutional Trust: Confidence in systems, procedures, and organizational integrity.
Relationship with Psychological Safety
Trust is a prerequisite for psychological-safety. Without a baseline of interpersonal and systemic trust, individuals fear negative consequences of taking interpersonal risks, such as speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
Key Research & Applications
- Amy Edmondson’s Framework: Edmondson argues that psychological-safety is distinct from trust but relies on it.
- Trust is the willingness to be vulnerable; psychological safety is the shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
- High trust can exist without psychological safety (e.g., in high-performance teams where failure is not tolerated despite mutual respect).
- Refer to: Psychological Safety – Amy C. Edmondson for detailed commentary on this distinction.
- Project Aristotle: Google’s research identified psychological safety (rooted in trust) as the #1 factor in successful teams.
- Amy Edmondson’s Framework: Edmondson argues that trust enables the interpersonal risk-taking required for learning behaviors.
- Servant Leadership Integration: Improving Team Effectiveness Through Servant Leadership Training” by Jason R. Weber identifies servant leadership training as a mechanism to enhance team effectiveness by fostering trust. This approach prioritizes the growth and well-being of team members, thereby strengthening both Affective Trust (through care) and Cognitive Trust (through consistent support), which directly correlates with improved team-effectiveness.