Trust and Team Culture

In an earlier article about scaling with intent I quoted Simon Sinek; “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other”. At Bexley Beaumont we often say, “Grow the Team, Keep the Culture”.

A team relies on a group of people who have a sense of unity. A bond that brings them together. Working together allows individuals to achieve growth and success on a personal as well as organisational level.

Any group of individuals can come together and identify as a team, but to be more than a collective group there must be that sense of unity which is underpinned by trust. Members of the team must trust in the unit as a whole and have trust in each member individually. Trust can be defined as “a belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something”.

To develop trust, there should be opportunities to build relationships with each other. Those relationships grow from knowing and respecting each other. The team can then work together on a common goal of supporting each other and (in Bexley Beaumont’s case) supporting clients. Consistency is a key, as the team grows it’s crucial to ensure each team member has the desire to be part of the team. They must also have the respect of the team which can be demonstrated by their competence and character.

Stephen Covey, states that “trust is confidence born of two dimensions: character and competence”. Character includes integrity, motive, and intent with people. Competence includes capabilities, skills, results, and track record. Both dimensions are vital. Within a team, to build trust there has to be the belief in the quality of character and competence of the individuals.

Trust is one of the Bexley Beaumont Values – “We are committed to the highest standards of ethics, integrity and respect. We share information in an open and transparent way, and everyone knows how the firm is progressing. We seek to consistently build trust in every interaction by conducting ourselves in a professional and honest manner. We accept responsibility and quickly correct things when mistakes are made, because trust is built in the proper handling of both our successes and our failures”.

The lawyers at Bexley Beaumont work as a team with each other and their clients. They are often seen as an extension of their client’s internal team. The aligned interests to work collaboratively with their clients and each other strengthens the sense of unity and trust allowing each member of the team to grow and perform at a high level. Trust is essential to an effective team and a team without trust isn’t really a team.