Leadership and Trust

Introduction

Leadership has a big role to be played in the business organization as leadership can push the business organization towards success or failure and this depends on the leadership style, the methods and techniques used by leadership to guide employees and on the degree of trust between leaders and employees and how far this can achieve the organizational goals and can motivate employees, raise their morale and job satisfaction for achieving welfare for themselves and for the organization. Leadership and trust are two main factors that helps any business organization achieve its goals and reach competitive advantage as according to Vadell, (2009) there is a great role for trust in leadership as there are senses of obligation and duty involved in leadership and there is a relationship between trust and organizational commitment as leaders who are trustworthy are those who are usually more commitment to the organizational values, culture and goals. Trust is the new core of leadership as trust has to be mutual between employees and leaders and there should be limits for trust which makes the organization is not liable for dangerous decisions and risky issues but risk is also needed to be mastered and implemented and trust encourages effective successful risky decisions.

Leaders have to build trust among stakeholders through different means and methods as according to Nooteboom, (2003) the trust process in an organization can be managed by successful leaders who are able to maintain and use the right tools for building trust between them and all stakeholders as leaders who are great leaders can't be so without trust. Trust in leaders can increase the work engagement, productivity, efficiency and profitability because when employees trust their leaders, they believe in the jobs assigned to them by their leaders and they work to satisfy themselves and their leaders who are working for their welfare and the welfare of the organization where they work. The current paper is discussing leadership and trust by referring to the relationship between leadership and trust, the effects of trust on leadership, how trust can change the work outcomes and how the lack of trust can affect the work and the business organization, this will be presented by critically analyzing different authors' views from the literature in addition to presenting the researcher's point of view based on readings in the literature.

Body

Mineo, (2014) discussed the importance of trust in leadership referring to trust as a tie that connects the leader with his followers and provides the organization with the ability to succeed; he confirmed that trust is a main element of those forming the process of leadership development as trust encourages employees to communicate with their leaders freely and express their feelings, needs, complaints and problems they may be suffering in the business organization. This is a good opinion as it was also asserted by  Savolainen and  Häkkinen, (2011) who added that there is a big impact of trustworthiness on leadership as they referred to its importance in current business management; they explained how trust can be a basis for functioning relationships that are able to bring in effective business cooperation and successful team work. They also added that a leader who is trustworthy have many skills that can be transmitted to his followers through his behaviors as all employees will like to imitate his behaviors that are mostly representing the organizational behaviors and values which facilitates the processes meant to reach the organizational goals. Trust is formed by a leader through his behaviors and actions performed to achieve different tasks and in the way he deals with employees and other stakeholders. This was confirmed by Salas et al, (2007) who asserted that when the leader shows trust in all his acts such as being fair with all employees, respect them, show empathy, discuss different issues and encourage employees to work by integrating them all in one whole unit that works for the benefits of the organization; this returns to the organization with great benefits and profits. Trust is developed and raised throughout time and situations that occur and bear the real deep trustworthy leaders whose behavior express how far they deserve trust from other stakeholders including employees and clients as this trust can help in building different relationships with stakeholders such as clients, for example, who are in need for leaders' trust because they represent trust in the business organization itself.

According to Fairholm, (1994), If the business organization is working under high risky conditions, trust in leaders become a must and a main necessity for work as employees here need to trust they leaders in providing them with the safe work environment and the needs that ensures their safety and security. Leaders have to focus on reducing pressure on employees when needed and ensuring their job satisfaction as this raises trust and respect and encourages employees to perform better at work. He also referred to the culture of trust as trust needs to be a part of the organizational culture which means leaders should also have trust in their employees with a level that permits them to assign sensitive jobs to those employees when the work needs this and this doesn't mean not to take the required precautions set by the organization as trust doesn't mean not to follow rules and laws in everything.

Hassan and Ahmed, (2011) discussed how the business organization make use and get benefits from trusted leadership as they referred to authentic leadership that should be based on trust in order to make leadership an effective and successful management tool on the long term as trust should be real and based on real leadership behaviors as if trust was based on fake behaviors, it can't be used as a tool for long term management. They stressed on the need for ethicality of leaders to make them have effective governance as they have to follow high moral standards and ethical attitudes in their daily discussion, decisions, actions and behaviors because this helps them to be real heroes who inspire other subordinates to follow their path and behaviors. This opinion is good as leaders who are not following moral behaviors in the way they work can't be honest and the organization can't put its secrets and work details under their control as most leaders who are not trustworthy and are not honest can be the main causes of failure of the business organization as their bad behaviors lead to losing trust in them by employees, clients and other stakeholders which leads to many losses and problems. Sarwar, (2016) discussed the relationship between trust and the leadership style as he focused on the transformational leadership style confirming that it bears more trust factors for employees as it is based on communication, discussion and applying different changes in the business organization that are able to bring in more stability in the work environment which raises trust between employees and their leaders, this can be true to a great extent as transformational leadership is proved to bring in effective results in the business organization but it all depends on the leader and how he is applying the leadership style as the leader himself should be able to raise trust whatever leadership style he is following. He also referred to confidentiality and how it is a part of trust in leadership positions as leaders usually keep important files and data relevant to the business which makes them in very sensitive positions in relation to the way they may use such data and how they have to be transparent in all the processes and decisions they make which raises the levels of trust in them by employees and all stakeholders.

Webber, (2002)discussed the barriers to effective team processes referring to lack of trust between team members and the team leader confirming that when trust is lacked between the team members and their leader; this leads to have diversity in goals and the ways to reach them as members of the team may not be convinced with goals presented by a non trusted leader who lies a lot and never keeps promises. This view was also presented and confirmed by Gillespie and Mann, (2004) who explained that leaders are the main persons in a team and that they are playing the most effective roles in the team which is developing trust as this role can raise effective functioning of a team and lead to high levels of cooperation and sharing information as when trust exists with high levels within one team, this leads to honest competition that depends on sharing information and making full use of it for the welfare of the team in addition to reducing individuality feelings and selfish acts within one team. Dirks and Ferrin, (2002) discussed the different leadership practices that can raise the level of trust in the leaders and referred to these practices by stating that they are important to enhance employees' trust in the leader as sense of vulnerability of the followers or their perceptions about the character of the leader are not enough on the long run to maintain sustainable trust. Among these practices they mentioned employees' motivation, engagement and empowerment by the leader as these practices can raise employees' rust and respect to their leader who insists on involving employees in decision making processes and respecting their opinions in addition to encouraging them to be creative and innovative with a tendency to adapt their suggestions and ideas after testing them; they explained that these practices are best done by the transformational leaders who work by a real desire and intention to engage employees, motivate them and empower them by the help of the whole organization that bears a value of being all transformational.  

Evans, (2015) reported that trust is an element that should be a part of the whole organization ensured by its leadership in all areas and processes of the organization and he referred to the need of having a work environment that encourages trust building and sustainability as he presented a view of the work environment where leaders build trust and mentioned an example which is a work environment that is free from spying elements, strict monitoring and supervising techniques or giving too many instructions to employees in a way that makes them feel surrounded by over controlling forces as employees should enjoy a work environment with enough amount of flexibility as this raises their trust in their leaders and in the organization in addition to increasing their self confidence which helps in having better results and more productivity. This is completely true as the work environment is a very important part of the process of building trust within a business organization as when leaders encourage the supportive work environment; this raises employees morale and make them feel a part of the work organization and make them work hard to achieve the organizational goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to stress the importance of trust to any leader in any organization as trust can bring in the best results and outcomes for the organization, when a leader is trustworthy, this encourages his subordinates to be more effective and efficient at work and work as a part of the organization as they consider their leaders as heroes whom they should follow and respect. Many authors believe that transformational leaders are the best in building and maintain trust as transformational leaders have the main tools of building trust such as the different practices such as motivation, respect, being fair with employees, engagement and empowerment of employees as these practices can build trust and encourage employees to provide their best to the welfare of the whole organization which means the welfare of themselves. Trust is related to leadership as it involves many factors such as confidentiality as a leader is a person who keeps much data relevant to the organization as such data may be secret and very confidential so the leader who is trustworthy is that honest leader who is able to keep important data on high secret levels and who is characterized with honesty and respect. A leader of a team needs to encourage trust within one team and among the team members as team work requires high levels of trust that encourages sharing information and reduces selfishness and individuality as when there is enough trust in the team; they all work for the team benefits and welfare in order to achieve success for the team and not for each member within the team.

The current topic can give many lessons to be learnt in relation to leadership and trust as among these lessons are raising the need for having a work environment that encourages trust existence in the work environment as when the work environment is supportive, safe and provides enough comfort and respect for employees; trust can be raised in leaders as a result of trust in the organization. Another lesson is to include trust building as a main part of the organizational culture in order to get sustainable trust and keep it on the long term. There is also another lesson which is encouraging employees to be engaged and empowered in the decision making processes and encourage their innovative and creative ideas in order to build a trust that is real and not fake as this can bring in the best business outcomes and more profits for the organization.