I have heard a lot of leaders talk about building a culture of trust. There are all kinds of articles and books out there about the importance of cultures of trust like this one, this one, and this one.
My definition of trust is “faith suspended in relationship”. If that definition is even mildly accurate, then I would suggest trust is a helpful byproduct of a healthier foundation of organizational culture. In itself, though, trust is a lousy foundation around which to build culture. That principle is linked to a corollary statement: people are a lousy foundation around which to build culture.
Declaration of relational or organizational trust is a declaration of safety. Cultures of trust are continually declaring how safe they are, and this is where the rub is for me. If there is one thing humans are not, it is safe. We are broken, frail, distorted, and distracted. Our relationships suffer the strain of these realities, and even at our most redemptive in-Christ moments, we quickly atrophy back to missing, misusing, misunderstanding and mistaking one another. Furthermore, calls from leaders to build cultures of trust communicate an unspoken assumption that the most important trait of leaders within that culture is trustworthiness. On top of that, there is an even deeper unspoken assumption that if I am a chief organizational leader, and I am leading us in building a culture of trust, then I myself am self-declaring my own trustworthiness. Reality is, though, that we hurt and offend one another all the time. We betray trust in our jobs often like it is our job.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many people in my life whom I trust and who trust me to some degree or other. I would suggest, however, that trust in those relationships has nothing to do with trust itself or with their/my trustworthiness. Here’s a question for you: can you think of one time in the Scriptures where God tells us to trust one another? There are many times we are invited to trust Him, but not one another. Over and over, we are called to have deep relational faith in God because He cannot and does not fail. He is perfectly trustworthy in all His ways, no brokenness, frailty, or bents toward darkness exist within Him. Trust in God will never be disappointed.
I cannot think of one place though, where He tells us to trust one another. Even with spouses or parent/child relationships, there is no command to be trusting. We are told to forbear, be patient, be forgiving, and bear one another’s burdens. All of these concepts beg the assumption that something is or has gone wrong in the relational dimensions in which we live.
On the other hand, all over the Scriptures, God communicates that we are to love one another. Whereas trust declares itself a place of safety, by definition, love is risk. Love is the awareness that I am choosing you, brokenness and all. As people who live in love, we “believe all things, hope all things, endure all things”, and often these expressions are indeed trust. Trust, however, is not the aim; love is.
The distinctions between love and trust are major and not to be taken lightly. As The Emporia Group, this is one reason we so enjoy working in family business systems. Usually, love is the assumption for the family who owns a business. Sometimes, it can be a forgotten assumption, but it nonetheless remains a presuppositional present.
Think about this practically though…imagine standing up at the next company meeting and announcing a pivot toward a culture of love. Trust, excellence, generosity, integrity, these are all acceptable as a business culture. Love, though? I bet you get some weird looks and hard conversations afterward. It’s unfortunate, too, because that means we have defined and lived love that poorly.
But that’s another post…
