Five Ways to Reverse the Downward Spiral of Distrust

A few years back, a VP at a high-tech firm I was working with pulled me aside. “Our division is mired in distrust,” she said. “Teams are not talking to each other. Meetings are more about posturing than work. And no one is taking any real risks. But when I bring it up, I get shot down. Does the CEO not see it? Or has he given up on us?”

This story echoes many others I’ve heard from professionals in a variety of industries. Unfortunately, once a company or team is infected with distrust, it tends to fall into a downward spiral that drags everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

In this post on strategy + business, Five Ways to Reverse the Downward Spiral of Distrust, I outline the warning signs for each stage in the downward spiral, then offer five practical strategies for rebuilding trust — even when no one wants to talk about it.

See what you think!

 

All the best,

Elizabeth Doty