Trust Is The Foundation of Teamwork

Team members need to be comfortable being vulnerable around one another so that they will be unafraid to honestly say things like “I was wrong,” “I made a mistake,” “I need help,” “I’m not sure,” “You’re better than I am at that,” and “I’m sorry.” Unless they can bring themselves to readily speak these words when the situation calls for it, they will waste time and energy thinking about what they should say and wondering about the true intentions of their peers. For a team to establish real trust, team members, including the leader, must be willing to take risks without a guarantee of success. They will have to be vulnerable without knowing whether that vulnerability will be respected and reciprocated.