Document Type
Issue Area Five
Abstract
Trust is as fragile as a child and, like a child, must be nurtured and supported if it is to grow. Unfortunately, trust, unlike a child, never reaches independence; is never able to sustain itself without continued nurturing and support; and when injured, does not heal as quickly as a child. Trust can be characterized by the three stages identified in the title of this paper and it might, on occasion, be necessary to add a fourth stage, trust-rebuilding it.
James Autry in love and Profit (1991) suggested that trust is feared. If trust is to grow, that fear must be overcome. The structures, processes, procedures, rules, and regulations common in most organizations undermine the development of trust. Unfortunately, the removal of these constructs is also feared. This fear is caused by the threat of being labeled as naive or incompetent by those in traditional leadership roles who believe that trust is a sign of weakness. Imagine the resulting confusion when the call goes out for trust but monitoring, regulation, and enforcement continue to be the practice. Until the fear of being labeled naive or too trusting is overcome, the monitoring and regulatory actions of the organization will be a barrier to developing trust.
Journal Title
Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series
Volume
5
Issue
2
First Page
214
Last Page
217
Publisher
Institute for Educational Leadership, University of Northern Iowa
City
Cedar Falls, IA
Copyright
©1994 Institute for Educational Leadership, College of Education, and the University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Haggard, David
(1994)
"Trust: Overcoming the Fear of It, Building It, and Accepting It,"
Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series: Vol. 5:
No.
2, Article 51.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/iel_monographs/vol5/iss2/51
