Trust has been in the news headlines a great deal over the past year. In UK politics, the collapse of Boris Johnson’s premiership stemmed from a growing lack of trust from the public. His role as Prime Minister came to an end when this view was eventually shared by his most senior colleagues. It would be fair to say that the tenure of his successor, Liz Truss, was then spectacularly short. Once again, her demise was related to problems with trust. This time around, it was from the countries financial institutions who had major concerns around her team’s decisions, actions and communication.
At present, when you check-in to any news media platform, you can expect to find reports centred on distrust between employers and unions, between members of the Royal family and even between doctors and the GMC.
Let’s focus on doctors
We’ve now had over 1,100 responses from doctors to our Healthy Team Leader Self Assessement which is an optional activity on our Medical Leadership & Management Online Course. The broad range of participants include consultants, junior doctors, locums, surgeons and physicians. Here are the results of Q16 which is directly focused on the subject of trust.
So, 24% of doctors indicate that there are issues with trust in their workplace.
Why does this matter?
Trust is fundamental to human relationships. Patrick Lencioni described how absence of trust is the most deeply rooted driver of dysfunctional teams. Lack of trust infects communication, confidence and decision making processes. Just like many other types of infection, its harmful effects increase if we don’t take action. Ultimately it has a detrimental impact on patient care. So, if almost a quarter of doctors are experiencing issues with trust then that suggests there is a major problem that has to be addressed.
So, how well do you trust your colleagues?
When we’re asked questions like this, we’ll often consider our relationships with our closest, permanent team members. But think wider. What about the transient locums, the trainees who have joined on on their latest rotation and the doctors in the other ward? And it’s a two way thing. How well do they trust you? What impacts does this have on behaviour? What are the impacts on you, your colleagues and your patients?
And now for the big question….
What are you doing about it?
There are many ways to consider the subject of trust. You can think of it as a choice that you make. Consciously or sub-consciously, you choose whether you trust another person or not. But how do you make good choices in this respect and how should you deal with a situation where you recognise you don’t trust the other person?
You can think of trust as a competence that you can develop which makes it easier for others to trust you. It’s more than just your technical prowess as a doctor and personal integrity. Then there’s the cultural aspects of trust. It’s nourished and grows in the right environment. Culture is shaped and nurtured by good leadership.
It’s all connected with behaviour and with good communication. Trust grows from saying and doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right reason. But that’s often easier said than done. Sometimes we may have to say what people don’t really want to hear. Sometimes it means doing things you would rather not do. And sometimes it means making tough decisions.
What steps are you taking to develop these skills?
Stephen McGuire – Managing Director
