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Increase trust, reduce fear

“The most critical challenge for any organization is to enlarge the circle of trust.”

Command-and-control systems reflect a deep mistrust of employees’ commitment and competence. They also tend to overemphasize sanctions as a way of forcing compliance. That’s why so many organizations are filled with anxious employees who are hesitant to take the initiative or trust their own judgment. Organizational adaptability, innovation, and employee engagement can only thrive in a high-trust, low-fear culture. In such an environment, information is widely shared, contentious opinions are freely expressed, and risk taking is encouraged. Fear paralyzes, mistrust demoralizes—they must be wrung out of our management systems.

124 Stories
236 Hacks
22 Barriers

Increase trust, reduce fear

“The most critical challenge for any organization is to enlarge the circle of trust.”

Command-and-control systems reflect a deep mistrust of employees’ commitment and competence. They also tend to overemphasize sanctions as a way of forcing compliance. That’s why so many organizations are filled with anxious employees who are hesitant to take the initiative or trust their own judgment. Organizational adaptability, innovation, and employee engagement can only thrive in a high-trust, low-fear culture. In such an environment, information is widely shared, contentious opinions are freely expressed, and risk taking is encouraged. Fear paralyzes, mistrust demoralizes—they must be wrung out of our management systems.

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IntroductionI have heard around always knowledge workers need special type of attention compare to blue collar jobs.
Story by Chris Shayan on November 19, 2012
Five years ago I coached a software development group who absolutely hated one of their members(let's say "Alice") who appeared abusive, condescending, and arrogant -- but was also acknowledged t
Story by Gary Cook on October 4, 2010
My vision is for a transformational organisation.  Transformational leadership creating transformed employees.  A holistic approach where people matter.  Old norms of control, power, ma
Hack by John Cooper on March 1, 2011
A decade back as a "Change Agent " I supported a project in preparing the employees to implement ERP/SAP. I wish to share the implementation model(the how aspect) and seek comments
Story by Ramesh Dasary on December 2, 2011
Leading without "Title" empowers ordinary employees and lower-level specialists the opportunity to really contribute and build an organization.
Story by Francis Jeyaraj on April 15, 2013
HCL Technologies overhauled its annual business planning process, turning it into an opportunity for a) grooming future leaders, b) pushing the envelope of organizational transparency, and c) leveragi
Story by Shubhi Mittal on October 30, 2013
Corporate politics are a drag on innovation and employee engagement.  Too many managers are worried about not rocking the boat or aligning themselves with the right corporate officer to ensure th
Story by Stuart Thompson on September 16, 2010
Allow employees to occassionally work from their home office or alternate location to promote a culture of trust and recognize they lead busy lives.
Hack by Sheryle Gillihan on January 5, 2011
Create a regularly scheduled Q and A session where the CEO and his or her peers are compelled to take questions from the broader organization, in the style of the British Prime Minister’s address to P
Hack by Gary Hamel on April 6, 2011
To varying degrees, everyone has self-centered ambitions: to become rich and famous, to win the race, to have some power over others. Such forces can drive people to work hard and produce results.
Hack by Tsukasa Makino on July 17, 2011

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