High Performance or Trust - You Pick?

Leadership

Feb 11

Why High Trust Is More Important Than High Performance

High Performance. It sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want a team member who works hard and goes above-and-beyond to deliver great work? The problem is that if you choose a person based solely on performance, you may not receive the outcome you truly desire. It’s crucial to look first not at performance — but Trust. In a perfect world, you’d have high performers who are also highly trustworthy. But life isn’t always ideal! So when you need to choose between high performance (with low trust) and high trust (with low performance), always go with high trust.

Think about everyday life. When you ask friends for a recommendation for a mechanic, what’s the first thing you ask about? You ask for a trustworthy mechanic. When you need to see a doctor, you seek someone you can trust with your health. How about when going to a restaurant? I’m sure you want to trust that food is prepared in a sanitary environment (in addition to being delicious!). Why should it be any different in your own workplace? In fact, since these are the people with whom we share our time, our space, and our goals on a daily basis, shouldn’t it be even more important?

Trust is more than just a “nice bonus.” It is the glue that holds everything else together. Here are three specific reasons to choose Trust over Performance:

Better Teamwork.

Highly trustworthy people are likable people. They tell the truth, they give constructive feedback and are also receptive to it. They tend to be selfless, as opposed to selfish, which means that they keep the team and the organization’s needs in mind. Not just their own. They acknowledge their peers and are great connectors. They value relationships. High performers don’t always know how to do this. Moreover, high performers often put themselves and their ego above everyone else. They don’t always know how to be a team player, and therefore, they aren’t always welcome members.

Better Culture.

People with high trust promote higher morale in the workplace. They are consistent, compassionate, and resourceful. They are likable, and they know how to communicate clearly. These types of people build up those around them and promote growth and development. They have integrity and values, and they don’t act contrarily in order to just move higher up. At the end of the day, these are the people you spend most of your time with. Yes, high performance is great for delivering the goods. But if there isn’t alignment amongst a team with a deeper sense of purpose and confidence in the vision, then it’s not sustainable and eventually it will fail.

Better Investment.

The truth is, you can grow and develop skills. You can work to improve performance. But it’s not so easy to change a person’s character. Building trust from a broken place is nearly impossible. People with high trust make better leaders. They are able to gain followers. In fact, they have the ability to gain followers even when they aren’t in a position of power. High performers without trust aren’t desirable leaders and aren’t likely to become more trustworthy if they aren’t already.

The Verdict? Always Choose Trust.

If you’re looking to grow and build your team, always take into consideration the level of trustworthiness. If both high performance and high trustworthiness aren’t an option, then always lean towards Trust.