This ability to transact with strangers as if they were friends is made possible by an intrinsic, instinctive human capacity for trust. Often the very first thing you do when you meet a stranger and begin to transact with him or her, say a waiter in a restaurant, is to smile – a small, instinctive gesture of trust.

The human smile, can reach right into the brain of another person and influence her thoughts.

‘Oxytocin is a physiologic signature of empathy,’ says the neuro-economist Paul Zak, ‘and appears to induce a temporary attachment to others.’

- From The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves - Matt Ridley

If you can, please do watch Paul Zak's Ted Talk. In this talk he shows why he believes oxytocin (he calls it "the moral molecule") is responsible for trust, empathy, and other feelings that help build a stable society.

He also suggests using the same acronym to set up what to do improve trust in an organisation. OXYTOCIN!

O - Ovation is actively praising, acknowledging, and recognising the efforts and accomplishments of employees through formal and informal means on an ongoing basis.

Make it:

• Personal

• Tangible

• Public

• Unexpected

• In time - not more than a week after the fact

X - eXpectation is creating and communicating a compelling vision of the future and defining clear and challenging goals to achieve the organization’s main mission. It also includes ongoing feedback again agreed upon performance expectations and the measurement of success. Employees who have clarity on how their individual goals have a "line of sight" to organizational strategic plans and are provided with clear benchmarks for achieving goals are significantly more productive.

• create challenges

• some stress but not chronic stress

Y - Yield is actively empowering decision making and fostering independence (i.e., having sufficient authority to do one’s job well), treating mistakes as learning opportunities, and providing support when required.

• No micro management

• Have minimum expectations

• Upside for anything is then unlimited

T - Transfer is actively supporting individual and team autonomy and mastery of skills and by creating and supporting self-directed empowered teams with required resources, tools and information to achieve results.

• Make a list of skills people need

• Make a list of things your people want to learn

• Make sure both are managed for

O - Openness is actively promoting transparency, keeping employees at all levels informed on timely basis about decisions/actions that are made and maintain openness to access of leaders throughout all levels of the organisation. It reflects leaders and all employees modeling transparency, sharing thinking, knowledge and information and willingly seeking and valuing input from others.

• Put everything on an intranet

• Have an all hands on deck open meet; let anyone ask anything; answer it

• Show people the rough notes on how you arrived at decisions

C - Caring is actively developing and rewarding collaboration, cooperation, teamwork, support of others and emotional/social competence in all interactions with internal and external stakeholders.

• Care.

• Put your people first.

• Create personalised solutions if regular ones don't work for everybody

I - Invest is actively coaching and developing employees, facilitating career growth and professional development, supporting self-directed learning and deploying the “signature strengths” on the job.

• Active mentoring

• Let someone see / experience your job

• Measure yourself, on the growth of your team

N - Natural is actively believing in senior leaders as models of integrity, candor and honesty as well as expressing transparency, genuineness and beliefs about creating a culture where employees at all levels can do their best work. It describes a culture where leaders and all employees are open to share their vulnerabilities and mistakes and willing to ask for help.

• Ask for help, when you need it

• Be open to talking about roadblocks or difficult decisions

• Do not mock vulnerability

Below is a list of questions that you can get your direct reports to answer on https://ofactor.com/ and get a score of the trust they have on you / with you, or you could use these questions to see if you need to change or create habits and processes for yourself. I would strongly suggest you do a self-audit first.

• My leaders treat setbacks and mistakes I make as a valuable opportunity to learn and try something new

• My leader notices and demonstrates appreciation for my progress and the effort it takes to get things done well

• My leader takes time to listen and understand my point of view

• My leader can be relied upon to do the right thing even when it’s challenging or difficult

• My leader provides me with the necessary tools and resources to be successful on the job

• My leader shares appropriate information and knowledge freely and openly

• I have opportunity to develop additional skills and experiences at work

• My leader encourages me to openly share my thoughts, suggestions and ideas

• My leader helps me understand how I can use my talents to professionally grow and develop further

• My leader meaningfully recognizes my efforts and achievements in a timely and appropriate manner

• My leader encourages me to do my best

• My leader provides me with the autonomy, flexibility and control in deciding how I do my work

• My leader knows what matters to me and how best to support meMy leader mutually agrees upon clear and challenging performance goals with me

• My leader utilizes and capitalizes on the full range of my skills, expertise, and experiences

• My leader is someone who openly and honestly shares both their strengths and vulnerabilities