“Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. And the only way to build trust is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”
– Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
In his classic book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team©, Patrick Lencioni explored the common pitfalls that prevent teams from achieving success. Through his research and experience, he identified five key areas of dysfunction that are essential for teams to address in order to improve their effectiveness: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.
Of these five dysfunctions, the first and perhaps most crucial one is the absence of trust. Without trust, a team cannot function effectively, and all other dysfunctions become impossible to address. In fact, Lencioni argues that trust is the foundation upon which all successful teams are built. But what kind of trust is necessary for teams to thrive?
According to Lencioni, the most important type of trust for teams is vulnerability-based trust. This means that team members must be willing to be vulnerable with one another, to share their weaknesses, and to admit when they don’t know something or have made a mistake. This kind of trust goes beyond simply trusting that team members will do their jobs competently or won’t steal your wallet; it requires a deeper level of interpersonal trust. It could more accurately be called faith. Faith that others won’t hurt me for sharing my weaknesses – faith that they won’t weaponize seeing me naked, with all my faults in full view. And ultimately the mother of all faith – We are in this together, come hell or high water.
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Why is vulnerability-based trust so crucial to team success? There are several reasons:
- It fosters open communication. When team members feel comfortable being vulnerable with one another, they are more likely to share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas. This leads to more open and honest communication, which is essential for effective collaboration – to sourcing the very best ideas that bring you up to and beyond that competitive edge.
- It promotes accountability. When team members are open about their weaknesses and mistakes, they are more likely to take responsibility for them and work to improve. This creates a culture of accountability within the team.
- It builds stronger relationships. When team members trust each other on a personal level, they are more likely to grow their trust into sturdy and multi-faceted relationships. Truly understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses on a personal level removes obstacles of guilt, judgment, and misfires on who should be doing what and in what order. This means more productive teamwork and the increased job satisfaction that engages and keeps those valuable employees flying your flag instead of someone else’s.
- It improves problem-solving. When team members are open to sharing their weaknesses and mistakes, they are more likely to seek out each other’s strengths for finding solutions. Effective problem-solving and innovation thrive when comparison becomes less a thief of joy and more a reason to celebrate the power of teamwork.
So, how can teams develop vulnerability-based trust? It starts with leadership. Leaders must model vulnerability and create a safe environment for team members to be open and honest with one another. This means being open about their own weaknesses and mistakes and encouraging team members to do the same. Leaders must also be willing to listen to and address concerns and conflicts that arise within the team.
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Team-building exercises can also be helpful in developing vulnerability-based trust. Activities that require team members to work together, communicate openly, and share personal information can help build stronger relationships and promote trust. One simple activity to put on your agenda is the “personal history exercise,” which asks each member to share something about their past that’s humanizing and interesting, such as how many siblings they had, who their favorite teacher was, or what the biggest challenge of their childhood was. This isn’t about digging around anyone’s inner child. Keep it professional and not overly personal, and you’ll find that people learn something new each time you do it with a different question. In this safe way, a little bit of vulnerability can get people moving in the right direction.
Your first step as a leader or team member (it doesn’t matter which) is to recognize and accept that your current reality is an absence of trust. How do you know? You ask, not about whether people trust, but about whether they feel safe to talk about the hard stuff – their weaknesses and mistakes, and where they need help. Ask for examples they could share with the team of their experiences around showing that they don’t have all the answers and don’t always get it right. If they say they have no mistakes, weaknesses, or need for help, that’s the same as saying they don’t trust.
Once you’ve identified the reality, you can begin talking about it and test your options for the next steps. By addressing the absence of trust as the first dysfunction of a team, organizations can begin to lay the foundation for a high-performing, collaborative, and successful organization.
“I want you to know, I value each of your opinions, even when you’re wrong.”
– Ted Lasso
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