How to build (and rebuild) trust | Frances Frei

Building and Rebuilding Trust

In this talk, the speaker discusses how to build and rebuild trust. She explains that trust is the foundation for everything we do, and if we can learn to trust one another more, we can have unprecedented human progress.

The Importance of Trust

• Trust is essential for progress.

• Broken trust can occur in various ways such as a CEO being caught on video disparaging an employee or employees experiencing a culture of bias and exclusion.

• Technological failures leading to loss of human life are also tragic examples of broken trust.

Personal Experience with Uber

• The speaker worked at Uber during its crisis period when it had lost trust with every constituent that mattered.

• She made a mistake by publicly committing to wearing an Uber T-shirt every day until every other employee was wearing one.

Component Parts of Trust

• Authenticity, rigor in logic, and empathy are the three component parts of trust.

• When all three components are working together, there is great trust. However, if any one wobbles, then trust is threatened.

Prescription for Rebuilding Trust

• Empathy is the most common wobble in building or rebuilding trust.

• Without revealing empathy, everything becomes harder which leads to less time for empathy creating a vicious cycle.

• Identify where you are likely to offer your distraction so that you can trace it back to where you are likely to withhold your empathy.

The Three Empathy Wobbles

In this section, the speaker talks about the three empathy wobbles that can hinder effective communication.

Distraction Magnet

• Cell phones are the largest distraction magnet and make it difficult to create empathy and trust.

Logic Wobbles

• Logic wobbles can come in two forms: quality of logic or ability to communicate the logic.

• Start with your point in a crisp half-sentence, then give supporting evidence to avoid dangerous situations.

Authenticity Wobble

• Authenticity is the most vexing wobble as people can sniff out whether someone is being their authentic true self.

• Temptation to mute who we are in the world arises when representing any sort of difference.

• Wear whatever makes you feel fabulous and pay less attention to what people want to hear from you. Leaders should set conditions that make it safe and welcome for us to be authentic.

The Importance of Empathy, Logic, and Authenticity

In this section, the speaker discusses how empathy, logic, and authenticity were all lacking at Uber when she first arrived. She explains how they were able to address two of these issues through quick fixes and executive education.

Empathy

• People at Uber would text each other during meetings instead of paying attention.

• Turning off technology forced people to look up and immerse themselves in others' perspectives.

Logic

• Managers were getting promoted beyond their capabilities due to hypergrowth.

• Executive education focused on logic, strategy, and leadership helped improve communication.

Authenticity

• It is still easier to coach people to fit in rather than celebrate differences.

• Rewarding people for saying something different than what was expected can help create a more authentic environment.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes by expressing her desire for a world where people can bring their best selves forward and rebuild trust globally.

• The speaker thanks the audience.