Some of the highest-performing teams in the world value trust over performance. 

Navy Seals equate high performers with LOW trust to be toxic team members.

United States Marines Officer Candidate School evaluates leaders as they work through obstacle courses. There’s no check box for whether they overcame the obstacles, only boxes for levels of trust created within the unit.

Starting in 2006 Ford’s CEO created a trusting culture out of chaos and paranoia by telling his management teams they have problems to solve, rather than accusing them of being the problems themselves.  

Sharing our challenges with each other without fear of judgement or reprisal is the first step towards building trusting teams. Leaders need to firmly establish trust within their organizations by encouraging this kind of open, safe dialogue. 

Performance is important, but it’s a metric that can be manipulated.

You can’t manipulate trust. Just ask the Navy Seals.