Aiming Higher: A Journey Through Military Aviation Leadership (17 May 2022 Release) | Chapter Excerpt: Creating Trust

Chapter 7: Creating Trust

People are simple. Everyone wants to be heard, understood, and acknowledged. They want to be heard, when they speak, understood when they share information, and acknowledged when they have concerns. The key to affording people the opportunity to be heard, understood, and acknowledged (HUA) is to engender an environment of psychological safety. Beyond this, leaders must build and cultivate trust based on actions, not just words. 

Heard, Understood & Acknowledged

People need to know they are valued. An easy way for us, as leaders, to show people they are valued is to engage three basic elements of good communication. We must show, more than just tell, that we hear, understand, and acknowledge our people. By doing so, we demonstrate that we value them and their input. 

Let me be clear. In no way do I think leaders can fix, solve, and address every single problem that is brought to us in the workplace. The same is true when leading in our homes. Leaders must learn to set aside their pride and ego and admit they are unable to solve and fix everything that is thrown their way. That said, leaders should commit to hearing the problems and challenges of their team. They must be willing and able to understand the challenges presented to them. And leaders must do their best to acknowledge what is brought to their attention. 

It is imperative that our people know we hear them first and foremost. This is critical as leaders, mentors, supervisors, and peers. People are often hurting and want to know they will be heard in their most vulnerable times. When we truly listen, we confirm that we will be there for them no matter the circumstance. 

Our people need to next know we understand them. At best, we need to first hear, then understand what our people are going through. This applies to race, gender, generational challenges, and many other issues we are faced with in the workplace. Understanding doesn't mean you need a PhD in what someone is experiencing; it simply means you are willing to listen and learn. Those concepts alone can make a world of a difference for a person who is experiencing a genuine challenge, whether simple or complex. 

Once you hear and understand, the next logical step is to acknowledge the person’s presence, feelings, and challenges in their given situation. Acknowledging, after hearing and understanding, what someone might be dealing with allows us as leaders to express empathy. Empathy is a powerful tool that demonstrates we sincerely care and value our people. 

Everyone longs to feel included and supported in the workplace. When people feel they have been included by way of being heard, understood, and acknowledged, it impacts productivity and the overall success of the organization in a positive way. A sense of support and inclusion leads to a sense of empowerment that translates into improved performance, according to a Salesforce Special Report (2017). The report also reveals that employees are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform at their best when they feel like they are heard. 

As you set out to be a leader, with or without a title,  in your organization and in life, never be too busy to stop, look, and listen to what people have to say. Taking a small amount of time to look someone in the eye and let them know they have been heard, understood, and acknowledged will make a huge difference in how they view themselves and how they view you as a leader. This seemingly simple act cultivates trust with people around you and each one of your team members.

Psychological Safety 

Psychological safety is defined by the Center for Creative Leadership as the belief that speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes will not be punished or met with punitive repercussions. According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), the highest performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety. As we lead, it is imperative to cultivate a culture that values psychological safety, allowing each person to be heard, understood, and acknowledged without fear of repercussions or retribution. 

I recall what it felt like being a newly minted pilot with a fresh set of wings that had barely settled onto my uniform.  I had gone through a grueling year of pilot training, and it seemed that the only way we were instructed and taught how to fly was by way of fear, sarcasm, and ridicule. I felt as though my opinion and perspective didn’t matter. I began to feel uncomfortable speaking up. I did not feel like my voice would be heard or acknowledged if I offered input. I began to shut down and stopped contributing my perspective. I did not feel psychologically safe. 

It wasn’t until an (old, crusty) senior officer held an impromptu mentor session with me and several other newly minted pilots that I considered sharing my thoughts. He invited us to speak up and offer our perspectives and input on the day’s training mission. He informed us that our input mattered and was valued. He encouraged us that it was our duty to be a beacon for change by way of ensuring that each voice on our flight crews and in our squadrons were heard and valued. This senior officer single-handedly created a significant amount of psychological safety, in just one conversation. Ultimately, this old, crusty senior officer was advising us to create and cultivate a culture of psychological safety in an effort to create the highest performing flight crews.

When we create an environment with psychological safety as its foundation, people are empowered to speak up without fear of reprisal or being ostracized. This is critical to an organization’s success. Psychological safety sets in motion a framework in which people will feel valued. When people feel valued, they become more committed. Working with individuals who are committed to each other and the organization is how we build trust! 

Psychological safety sets in motion a framework in which people will feel valued.

Build & Cultivate Trust Based on Actions

It is vital that we not only tell our people they are valued, but that we show them. We exhibit this by genuinely caring for and paying attention to our people. Of course, this starts with hearing, understanding, and acknowledging through our actions hand in hand with consciously creating psychological safety. When people do not feel as though they are valued, they will respond in kind, with the same lack of commitment they are being shown. This leads to decreased productivity. Further, people who feel undervalued or devalued respond by leaving the organization. For these reasons, it is imperative that we build trust with deliberate actions beyond our words. 

Trust in an organization is a precious commodity. It is hard to earn and easy to lose. The actions of a leader in an organization determine how trust is earned, maintained, or lost. In a study conducted by Washington University in St. Louis and State University of New York, it was revealed that positive impacts toward commitment in an organization, job performance, or overall job satisfaction is based on an individual’s trust in the leadership. Additionally, a Harvard Business Review article suggested that a leader’s trustworthiness is evaluated based on competence, motives, means, and impact. Ultimately, leadership is evaluated based on actions. 

As leaders, we must generate an intentional plan that demonstrates to our people that they are valued which leads to cultivating commitment, accountability and trust. We must be mindful in how we show people, from the janitor to the CEO, that they are valued, trusted, heard, and empowered to be their best selves every single day. This is not an easy task, as each of us have our own unique personalities and challenges we are faced with every day.

We must be mindful in how we show people, from the janitor to the CEO, that they are valued, trusted, heard, and empowered to be their best selves every single day.

I recall being a member of an organization early in my career where I, along with others, did not feel valued.  I personally felt like my contributions were not valued and what I was doing was not appreciated by my leadership.  After awhile, I began to become uninterested in giving more effort, energy and support to the mission and daily tasks.  I began to feel ignored.  I consciously chose to stop sharing ideas and input.  I looked around and realized that others were beginning to take the same  approach as many of us felt unvalued.  This was catastrophic to the organizations morale and minimized our overall mission effectiveness.  I along with others began to check out mentally, and some began to check out physically.  As leaders, we must recognize when people stop talking because they don’t feel valued, they start leaving, mentally and physically. If you want people to be accountable and committed, it is essential they feel like they are valued and able to make meaningful contributions to an organization. 

Leading people is hard, yet a rather simple task. The key elements are summed up by way of communication skills, psychological safety, and deliberate actions. Although this sounds quite easy to implement, many organizations and individuals in leadership roles struggle to do so due to a lack of quality communication, psychological safety, and inaction. 

Start today being deliberate in your actions as a leader, whether you have a title or not. Be conscious to hear, seek to understand, and acknowledge those around you. Create and cultivate spaces of psychological safety. Be deliberate in your actions, ensuring you are competent, moved by the right motives and means, and making a positive impact. You will then lead people, an organization, and an environment built on trust. 

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.