Leadership | Transformation Management

Change needs trust

From Sabine Walter, Head of netzwerk managementberatung | coaching

Within the framework of the order clarification, when we ask about the goals of change projects, we often get this answer from managing directors and board members: "Change should be the most natural thing in the world in our company." Many managers are often unaware of what this means. Because the willingness and ability to change only becomes a natural part of a corporate culture if there is trust at all levels. Creating this basis is often the first, the longest, but the most decisive step in the transformations we accompany, so that the set goal of more willingness to change, more agility and entrepreneurship can succeed at all.

In this article, we share our experiences and give managers very specific tips on which levels of trust are most important if this cultural change is to succeed.

Specifically, the article is about:

• Trust within the leadership team
• Trust in the leadership team
• Self-confidence of the members of the organisation
• Confidence in the target image and procedure in change processes.

Change as a matter of course

Why does an intrinsic willingness to change require trust?

For us humans to change, we have to leave our comfort zone. In order to do that, we need emotional security. We get this security when we trust:

• trust in the people who initiate and lead the change
• Trust in the what and why of change
• trust in the how of change
• trust in our environment, which is part of this process of change
• trust in ourselves that we will master the new requirements

If change is to become a matter of course in us humans, it requires a healthy self-confidence and a stable culture of trust in which we are embedded.

This culture of trust must be created at the latest before radical change processes begin. This is often underestimated in the planning and implementation of transformations and can lead to transformation projects failing and companies emerging weakened rather than strengthened from an aborted change process.

Levels of trust in change processes

Change processes - at which levels is trust essential?

In addition to self-confidence, confidence on the substantive level is decisive in the goal, the reasons and the procedures in the process. Just as important on the relationship level is the trust in the people involved, especially those who initiate and lead the change process and later measure results and success. Furthermore, trust in the organisation as a whole is also necessary.

As a leader, you can only influence the self-confidence of each individual organisational member to a limited extent. What you can influence is

• Your trust within the leadership team: "Are we pulling together? Do we stand up for each other? Do we act with integrity?",
• Confidence in the organisation: "Do I have the confidence that we as an organisation can manage this change at this point in time?" and
• Your self-confidence: "Can I convincingly fulfil this leadership task that is currently required of me? Am I ready to embrace and exemplify the innovations?".

Let's look at the different levels of trust in detail.

Levels of trust in change processes

Trust within the leadership team

The first crucial element for a stable culture of trust is trust in the leadership team, especially also in the management / board. This trust is also the basis for the emergence of a high performance team, i.e. a high performance organisation. Read more in our blog article "Wanted! More High Performance Teams at C-Level". "Wanted! More High Performance Teams at C-Level".

Why is the level of trust in the leadership team so crucial for change to succeed?

Let me answer this question by showing what happens when there are no trusting relationships in the leadership team:

• Decision-making processes take a long time or fail.
• A solution often consists only of the lowest common denominator, thus hindering progress and diminishing the success of change.
• It is not spoken with one voice.
• The risk that other members of the organisation will try to play the leadership team off against each other increases.
• Irritations that arise become a conflict due to a lack of clarification.
• Conflicts that arise in the course of change are usually not resolved, which leads to growing mistrust.
• Personal concerns dominate thoughts and actions - a solution that makes sense for the company is secondary.
• The whole process takes longer and therefore costs more money.
• The risk of top performers dropping out during the process increases.

I could continue the list. But I think that the risks already pointed out illustrate how important trusting relationships in the leadership team are if you want to initiate an important change process in your organisation.

Therefore, dear executives and board members, ideally you should work on improving your trust relationship with each other and with your direct leadership team with the help of an experienced consultant before the official kick-off of the change project.

Levels of trust in change processes

Trust in the leadership team

This trust relationship is crucial from two perspectives. On the one hand, it is elementarily important that the C-level team has confidence in its leaders. On the other hand, it is elementary that each individual member of the organisation has confidence in his or her direct managers and the top management.

Our articles "Leading with confidence" and "The essence of effective leadership" provide impulses for a trusting leadership style.

Levels of trust in change processes

Self-confidence of the members of an organisation

You can only influence the self-confidence of your employees and leaders to a limited extent. However, there are also concrete factors in leadership work that help to strengthen self-confidence. These include:

• Sincere appreciation
• Room for further development
• Dealing constructively with errors
• Developing self-efficacy through the delegation of tasks and responsibilities
• Promoting strengths through strength-related tasks and roles

You can find further impulses in our articles "Values at the heart of effective leadership", "Humanistic leadership“ and "Value of people in companies".

Levels of trust in change processes

Confidence in the target image and procedure in change processes

In addition to trust in the people involved, trust in the cause is crucial for the success of change projects. A central prerequisite for this trust is understanding the questions of "what?", "why?" and "why now?". Without such an understanding, the new will remain uncertain and may be perceived as a threat.

In order to build trust and maintain it along the entire change project, targeted change communication is crucial. You will find extensive information on Communication in change processes can be found in the article of the same name.

Conclusion: Trust needs change

No change without trust

I would like to put it in a nutshell at this point: Without trust, there is no change. Without self-confidence and a stable culture of trust in the organisation, willingness to change will also not become a matter of course.

It is therefore essential that you build a culture of trust in your organisation. And as with all things in organisational development, the role model effect of top management also plays a decisive role in the culture of trust. If you as a management team work together in a trusting manner and communicate this trusting cooperation to the outside world on a daily basis, this is a decisive catalyst for trusting cooperation in the entire organisation.

Trust is a competitive factor. If there is trust, change processes also succeed. If there is a lack of trust or if it is not stable enough, it becomes a showstopper in companies on several levels - also in change management.