程序代写代做代考 Excel chain 1548 Sep06_PanelDiscussion.qxp

1548 Sep06_PanelDiscussion.qxp

YY
EE

LL
MM

AA
GG

CC
YY

AA
NN

BB
LL

AA
CC

KK

september 2006 55

oughly half of all managers
don’t trust their leaders. That’s

what I found when I recently surveyed

450 executives of 30 companies from

around the world. Results from a Golin-

Harris survey of Americans back in 2002

were similarly bleak: 69% of respon-

dents agreed with the statement “I just

don’t know who to trust anymore.” In

that same year the University of Chi-

cago surveyed 800 Americans and dis-

covered that more than four out of five

had “only some” or “hardly any” confi-

dence in the people running major cor-

porations. Granted, trusting corporate

leaders in the abstract is different from

trusting your own CEO, and some com-

panies and executives are almost uni-

versally considered trustworthy; but the

general trend is troubling.

It’s troubling because a distrustful en-

vironment leads to expensive and some-

times terminal problems. We hardly

need reminding of the recent wave of

scandals that shattered the public’s faith

in corporate leaders. And although

you’ll never see a financial statement

with a line item labeled “distrust,” the

WorldCom fiasco underscores just how

expensive broken trust can be. When I

teach executive seminars on trust, I ask

participants to describe how a working

environment feels when it is charac-

terized by low levels of trust. The most

frequent responses include “stressful,”

“threatening,”“divisive,”“unproductive,”

and “tense.” When asked how a high-

trust work environment feels, the partic-

ipants most frequently say “fun,” “sup-

portive,”“motivating,”“productive,”and

“comfortable.” Clearly, companies that

foster a trusting culture will have a com-

petitive advantage in the war for talent:

Who would choose to stay in a stressful,

divisive atmosphere if offered a produc-

tive, supportive one?

The Decision to Trust
by Robert F. Hurley

A new model explains the

mental calculations people

make before choosing to

trust someone.

R

D
O

U
G

F
R

A
S

E
R

M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F

It is crucial, then, for managers to de-

velop a better understanding of trust

and of how to manage it. I define trust as

confident reliance on someone when you

are in a position of vulnerability. Given

the pace of change in organizations

today – mergers, downsizing, new busi-

ness models, globalization–it is not sur-

prising that trust is an issue. Fortunately,

50 years of research in social psychology

has shown that trust isn’t magically cre-

ated. In fact, it’s not even that mysteri-

ous. When people choose to trust, they

have gone through a decision-making

process – one involving factors that can

be identified, analyzed, and influenced.

This article presents a model that

sheds light on how the decision to trust

is made. (We will ignore the extremes of

complete trust based on blind faith and

total distrust based on paranoia, and

focus instead on the familiar situation

in which uncertainty, possible damage,

and multiple other reasons to trust or

distrust are combined.) By understand-

ing the mental calculations behind the

decision whether or not to trust, manag-

ers can create an environment in which

trust flourishes.

A Model for Trust
Building on the social psychologist Mor-

ton Deutsch’s research on trust, suspi-

cion, and the resolution of conflict, and

on my own experience over the past 15

years consulting with organizations and

executives on trust, I developed a model

that can be used to predict whether an

individual will choose to trust or dis-

trust another in a given situation. (See

the exhibit “To Trust or Not to Trust?”)

I have tested this model, which identi-

fies ten factors at play in the decision-

making process, with hundreds of top

executives. Using it, they were able to

identify relationships that would bene-

fit from greater trust and to diagnose

the root causes of distrust. Armed with

that knowledge, they took concrete

steps that made it easier for others to

place confidence in them.

Decision-maker factors. The first
three factors concern the decision

maker himself: the “truster.” These fac-

tors often have little to do with the per-

son asking for trust: the “trustee.” They

are the result of a complex mix of per-

sonality, culture, and experience.

Risk tolerance. Some people are natu-

ral risk takers; others are innately cau-

tious. How tolerant people are of risk

has a big impact on their willingness to

trust – regardless of who the trustee is.

Risk seekers don’t spend much time cal-

culating what might go wrong in a given

situation; in the absence of any glaring

problems, they tend to have faith that

things will work out. Risk avoiders, how-

ever, often need to feel in control be-

fore they place their trust in someone,

and are reluctant to act without ap-

proval. Not only do they not trust oth-

ers, they don’t even trust themselves.

Research by the organizational anthro-

pologist Geert Hofstede suggests that

at some level, culture influences risk tol-

erance. The Japanese, for instance, tend

to have a lower tolerance for risk than

Americans.

Level of adjustment. Psychologists have

shown that individuals vary widely in

how well adjusted they are. Like risk tol-

erance, this aspect of personality affects

the amount of time people need to

build trust. Well-adjusted people are

comfortable with themselves and see

the world as a generally benign place.

Their high levels of confidence often

make them quick to trust, because they

believe that nothing bad will happen

to them. People who are poorly ad-

justed, by contrast, tend to see many

threats in the world, and so they carry

more anxiety into every situation. These

people take longer to get to a position

of comfort and trust, regardless of the

trustee.

For example, Bill, a senior vice presi-

dent at a major financial services firm,

was a poorly adjusted person who al-

ways operated in “high alert” mode. He

micromanaged his direct reports, even

his most talented ones, because he

couldn’t feel secure unless he was per-

sonally involved in the details. His in-

ability to delegate had little to do with

the trustees and everything to do with

his own nature; he regularly chose sus-

picion over trust because he saw even

the slightest mistake as a potential

threat to his reputation.

Relative power. Relative power is an-

other important factor in the decision

to trust. If the truster is in a position of

authority, he is more likely to trust, be-

cause he can sanction a person who vi-

olates his trust. But if the truster has lit-

tle authority, and thus no recourse, he is

more vulnerable and so will be less com-

fortable trusting. For instance, a CEO

who delegates a task to one of her vice

presidents is primarily concerned with

that person’s competence. She can be

reasonably confident that the VP will

try to serve her interests, because if he

doesn’t, he may face unpleasant reper-

cussions. The vice president, however,

has little power to reward or sanction

the CEO. Therefore, his choice to trust

the CEO is less automatic; he must con-

sider such things as her intentions and

her integrity.

Situational factors. The remaining
seven factors concern aspects of a partic-

ular situation and of the relationship

between the parties. These are the fac-

tors that a trustee can most effectively

address in order to gain the confidence

of trusters.

56 harvard business review | hbr.org

M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F • The Decision to Trust

Robert F.Hurley (Rohurley@fordham.edu)

is a professor of management at Fordham

University in New York.

Companies that foster a trusting culture will have

an advantage in the war for talent: Who would

choose to stay in a stressful, divisive atmosphere

if offered a productive, supportive one?

YY
EE

LL
MM

AA
GG

CC
YY

AA
NN

BB
LL

AA
CC

KK

Security. Earlier we dealt with risk tol-

erance as a personality factor in the

truster. Here we look at the opposite of

risk–security–as it relates to a given sit-

uation. Clearly, not all risks are equal.

An employee who in good times trusts

that his supervisor will approve the

funding for his attendance at an expen-

sive training program might be very sus-

picious of that same supervisor when

the company is making layoffs. A gen-

eral rule to remember: The higher the

stakes, the less likely people are to trust.

If the answer to the question “What’s

the worst that could happen?”isn’t that

scary, it’s easier to be trustful. We have

a crisis of trust today in part because

virtually nobody’s job is truly secure,

whereas just a generation ago, most peo-

ple could count on staying with one

company throughout their careers.

Number of similarities. At heart we are

still quite tribal, which is why people

tend to more easily trust those who ap-

pear similar to themselves. Similarities

may include common values (such as a

strong work ethic), membership in a de-

fined group (such as the manufacturing

department, or a local church, or even

a gender), and shared personality traits

(extroversion, for instance, or ambition).

In deciding how much to trust some-

one, people often begin by tallying up

their similarities and differences.

Imagine that you are looking to hire

a consultant for a strategy assignment.

The first candidate walks into your of-

fice wearing a robe; he speaks with an

accent and has a degree from a univer-

sity you’ve never heard of. When you

meet the second candidate, she is

dressed very much like you and speaks

as you do. You learn that she also at-

tended your alma mater. Most people

would feel more comfortable hiring

the second candidate, rationalizing that

she could be counted on to act as they

would in a given situation.

That’s partly why companies with a

strong unifying culture enjoy higher lev-

els of trust–particularly if their cultural

values include candor, integrity, and

fair process – than companies without

one. A good example of this is QuikTrip,

a convenience store chain with more

than 7,000 employees, which has been

named to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies

to Work For in each of the past four

years. One of the company’s bedrock

values is do the right thing–for the em-

ployee and for the customer. This mean-

ingful and relevant shared value serves

as a foundation for an exceptionally

strong culture of trust. On the flip side,

a lack of similarities and shared values

explains why, in many organizations,

the workaholic manager is suspicious

of his family-oriented employee, or the

entrepreneurial field sales group and

september 2006 57

The Decision to Trust • M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F

the control-oriented headquarters never

get along: It’s more difficult to trust peo-

ple who seem different.

Alignment of interests. Before a person

places her trust in someone else, she

carefully weighs the question “How

likely is this person to serve my inter-

ests?” When people’s interests are com-

pletely aligned, trust is a reasonable re-

sponse. (Because both the patient and

the surgeon, for instance, benefit from a

successful operation, the patient doesn’t

need to question the surgeon’s motives.)

A fairly unsophisticated leader will as-

sume that everyone in the organization

has the same interests. But in reality

people have both common and unique

interests. A good leader will turn criti-

cal success factors for the company into

common interests that are clear and

superordinate.

Consider compensation policies.

We’ve all heard of companies that have

massive layoffs, drive their stock prices

up, and reward their CEOs with hand-

some bonuses– in the same year. It’s no

wonder that so many employees dis-

trust management. Whole Foods Mar-

ket, by contrast, has a policy stating that

the CEO cannot make more than 14

times the average employee’s salary;

in 2005 CEO John Mackey forfeited

a bonus of $46,000. That policy helps

demonstrate to workers that the CEO is

serving the best interests of the com-

pany, not only his own. Aligned interests

lead to trust; misaligned interests lead

to suspicion.

This factor also operates on a more

macro-organizational level. In “Fair Pro-

cess: Managing in the Knowledge Econ-

omy”(HBR July–August 1997), W. Chan

Kim and Renée Mauborgne described

how a transparent, rigorous process for

decision making leads to higher levels of

organizational trust. Opaque decision-

making processes, which may appear to

serve special interests whether they do

or not, breed distrust.

Benevolent concern. Trust is an issue

not because people are evil but because

they are often self-centered. We’ve all

known a manager whom employees

don’t trust because they don’t believe

he will fight for them. In other words, he

has never demonstrated a greater con-

cern for others’ interests than for his

own. The manager who demonstrates

benevolent concern–who shows his em-

ployees that he will put himself at risk

for them – engenders not only trust but

also loyalty and commitment.

Aaron Feuerstein, the former CEO of

Malden Mills, represents an extreme

example of benevolent concern. In 1995

a fire destroyed his textile mill in

Lawrence, Massachusetts, which had

employed some 3,200 people. He could

have taken the insurance money and

moved his manufacturing overseas.

Then 70, he could have retired. Instead

Feuerstein promised his workers that he

would rebuild the mill and save their

jobs, and he kept them on the payroll.

Feuerstein’s benevolent concern for his

employees, despite the cost to himself,

gained their trust. Unfortunately, it lost

the trust of his banks, which probably

would have preferred that more benev-

olent concern be directed toward them.

The resulting debt eventually forced the

company to file for bankruptcy protec-

tion. This points to a real challenge in

managing trust: how to balance multi-

ple and sometimes competing interests.

Capability. Similarities, aligned inter-

ests, and benevolent concern have little

meaning if the trustee is incompetent.

(If you’re going to have surgery, you’re

probably more concerned about your

surgeon’s technical skills than about

58 harvard business review | hbr.org

M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F • The Decision to Trust

To Trust or Not to Trust?

When deciding whether to trust someone, people weigh ten basic factors. Three

relate to the decision maker alone – the “truster”– and seven reflect the specific

situation involving him or her and the person asking for trust – the “trustee.” The

more factors that score on the high end of the scale, the more likely the decision

maker is to choose trust.

Decision-Maker
Factors

Situational
Factors

low high

Choice

How risk-tolerant is the
truster?

How well-adjusted is he
or she?

How much relative power
does he or she have?

How secure do the parties
feel?

How many similarities are
there between them?

How well aligned are the
parties‘ interests?

Does the trustee show
benevolent concern?

Is the trustee capable?

Has the trustee shown
predictability and integrity?

Do the parties have good
communication?

low high

DISTRUST TRUST

YY
EE

LL
MM

AA
GG

CC
YY

AA
NN

BB
LL

AA
CC

KK

how much the two of you have in com-

mon.) Managers routinely assess capa-

bility when deciding to trust or delegate

authority to those who work for them.

Capability is also relevant at the

group and organizational levels. Share-

holders will be suspicious of a board of

directors that can’t establish reliable

processes for compensating CEOs fairly

and uncovering unethical behavior. A

customer will not trust a firm that has

not demonstrated a consistent ability to

meet his or her needs.

Predictability and integrity. At some

point in the trust decision the truster

asks, “How certain am I of how the

trustee will act?” A trustee whose be-

havior can be reliably predicted will be

seen as more trustworthy. One whose

behavior is erratic will be met with sus-

picion. Here the issue of integrity comes

into play – that is, doing what you say

you will do. Trustees who say one thing

but do another lack integrity. The audio

does not match the video, and we are

confused as to which message to be-

lieve. The result is distrust.

In my executive-coaching work, I

have seen some managers consistently

overpromise but underdeliver. These

people are well-intentioned, and they

care passionately about their work, but

their enthusiasm leads them to promise

things they simply cannot produce. De-

spite their hard work and good inten-

tions, colleagues don’t trust them be-

cause of their poor track records.

Take the case of Bob, the managing

partner of a global consulting firm. Bob

was a creative and strategic thinker who

was well liked by everyone. He had good

intentions and had demonstrated be-

nevolent concern for employees. But the

other partners in the firm did not trust

Bob, because he often failed to deliver

what he had promised when he had

promised it. Despite his good intentions,

people in the firm said that any project

that relied on Bob was in a “danger

zone.” With time and coaching, Bob

learned to delegate more and to live up

to his commitments. But the point here

is that when a person fails to deliver,

he’s not just missing a deadline; he’s

undermining his own trustworthiness.

Level of communication. Because trust

is a relational concept, good communi-

cation is critical. Not surprisingly, open

and honest communication tends to sup-

port the decision to trust, whereas poor

(or no) communication creates suspicion.

Many organizations fall into a down-

ward spiral: Miscommunication causes

employees to feel betrayed, which leads

to a greater breakdown in communica-

tion and, eventually, outright distrust.

Consider how the Catholic Church

handled allegations of sexual abuse by

priests in the Boston area. Cardinal

Bernard Law failed to openly communi-

cate the nature and scope of the allega-

tions. When the details emerged during

legal proceedings, parishioners felt be-

trayed,and trust was destroyed.The word

“cover-up” was frequently used in the

media to describe Law’s response to

the crisis. His lack of candor caused peo-

ple to feel that the truth was being ob-

scured at the expense of the victims.

Around that time I witnessed an ex-

ample of excellent communication

within the same Catholic Church. I sat

with my family one Sunday while, in

an agonizingly uncomfortable homily,

a priest confessed from the altar that he

had had an inappropriate encounter 20

years earlier with a woman employed

by the parish. He acknowledged his mis-

take, talked about how he had dealt

with the issue, and asked for forgiveness.

Over time his parishioners came once

again to regard him as a trusted spiritual

leader. His offense was less serious than

Law’s, but his story shows that honest

communication can go a long way to-

ward building or repairing relationships

and engendering trust. To some degree,

one person’s openness induces openness

in others, and the decision to put faith in

others makes it more likely that they

will reciprocate.

Managing with the Trust
Model
Once these ten factors are understood,

executives can begin managing trust in

their own relationships and within their

organizations.

Consider the example of Sue and Joe,

a manager and her direct report in a

september 2006

IT solutions, processes and
automation can improve your
company’s success. But there’s
one resource that trumps all
others. Your people.

They stand at the core of your
company’s ideas, partner
relationships and customer
knowledge. When you
empower your people with
the right tools, you recognize
them as your greatest asset.

Steve Ballmer,
CEO,

Microsoft Corporation

“Empowering
your people will
empower the
entire company.”

Watch Steve Ballmer’s webcast
about how people drive
business success. Visit
microsoft.com/business/
peopleready

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft and “Your
potential. Our passion.” are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Fortune 500 consumer goods company

that was in the midst of a major turn-

around. Sue, a relatively new VP of sales,

wanted to make some aggressive per-

sonnel moves in response to pressure

from her boss to improve performance.

Joe, one of Sue’s employees, was three

years shy of his retirement date. He had

been a loyal employee for 17 years and

had been successful in previous staff

roles. Recently, however, he had taken

on a new job as a line manager in sales

and was not performing well. In fact,

Sue’s boss had suggested that it was

time to move Joe out.

Joe was a confident person (high level

of adjustment), but he knew that he was

in the wrong job and wanted to find a

different way to contribute (high align-

ment of interests with Sue). He was con-

cerned about how candid to be with

Sue, because he was afraid of being ter-

minated (low risk tolerance and low se-

curity). And because Sue was a new VP,

Joe was uncertain whether she was the

decision maker and had any real control

(low predictability and low capability).

As the situation originally stood, Joe

wasn’t inclined to trust his manager;

there were too many risks and uncer-

tainties. The trust model helped Sue

identify what she could do to change

the situation and create a climate of

trust afterward. (See the exhibit “Trust

Intervention: Sue and Joe.”) Sue and I

realized, for instance, that we could do

little to raise Joe’s tolerance for risk. Cau-

tious by nature, he was genuinely – and

quite rightly–fearful of losing his job. So

I encouraged Sue to demonstrate greater

benevolent concern: to have a candid

but supportive conversation with Joe

and give him time to go through a self-

discovery process using an outside con-

sultant. After that process, Joe requested

M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F • The Decision to Trust

Joe

Sue and Joe’s
Situation

low high

Trust Intervention: Sue and Joe

Risk Tolerance

Level of Adjustment

Relative Power

Joe’s Job Security

Similarities Between Them

Alignment of Interests

Sue’s Benevolent Concern

Sue’s Capability

Sue’s Predictability and Integrity

Level of Communication

Actions taken by Sue
to gain Joe’s trust

Sue, a VP of sales, needed to make some personnel changes

in her department. Joe, her direct report, wasn’t inclined to

trust Sue, because the company was going through a turn-

around and he feared for his job. Moreover, since she was

relatively new to the company, he couldn’t predict what she

would do or gauge how capable she was. Sue used the trust

model to identify what she could do to change Joe’s feel-

ings. By getting approval from her own boss for alternate

positions for Joe, for instance, she demonstrated capability

in finding solutions. And by empathizing with Joe’s feeling

of insecurity and openly discussing his options with him,

she demonstrated both benevolent concern and increased

communication. The result was that Joe found it easier to

place his faith in Sue.

DISTRUST TRUST

60 harvard business review | hbr.org

a transfer. I also coached Sue to work

with her boss to gain approval for some

alternate options for Joe, thus increasing

her capability and predictability in Joe’s

eyes. In addition, Sue began communi-

cating more frequently and openly to

Joe about his options in the organiza-

tion and was sincerely empathetic about

how this career uncertainty would af-

fect him and his wife – showing still

more benevolent concern. Eventually

Joe was moved into a more suitable po-

sition. He wasn’t shy in sharing his pos-

itive feelings about the whole process

with his former colleagues, who still re-

ported to Sue. As a result, those people

were more apt to place their faith in

her, and trust increased in the depart-

ment even though it was experiencing

major change.

The trust model can also be applied

on a broader, organizational scale. Con-

sider the situation at Texaco in the 1990s.

In 1994 a group of minority employees

filed a racial-discrimination suit against

the oil giant, charging that black em-

ployees were being paid less than white

employees for equal work. Two years

later tensions reached a crisis level when

senior Texaco executives were secretly

recorded denigrating black workers. It’s

safe to say that among black workers,

trust in their company’s executives bot-

tomed out. Then-chairman and CEO

Peter Bijur recognized the graveness of

the situation and knew he needed to act

quickly to repair the broken trust.

Bijur started by hiring outside coun-

sel to investigate the matter; bringing in

a neutral third party alleviated any sus-

picions that conflict of interest would

taint the investigation. He also created

a special board of directors committee,

which was charged with evaluating the

company’s diversity training. That step

demonstrated that Texaco placed a high

value on diversity. New diversity and

sensitivity training led to a corporate

culture built on shared values. Those

who didn’t belong – specifically, the se-

nior executives heard speaking offen-

sively on the tape – were terminated,

suspended, or had their retirement ben-

efits cut off. To make the company’s ac-

tions more predictable for employees, YY
EE

LL
MM

AA
GG

CC
YY

AA
NN

BB
LL

AA
CC

KK

september 2006

Wharton Executive Education.
We’re all business.TM

Introducing the Wharton Learning Continuum. From the pre-program
coursework through post-program follow-up, there is no time
for interruptions. To get more out of executive education, call
+1.800.255.3932 (U.S.) or +1.215.898.1776 (worldwide) and mention
code HBRØ73 or go to executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

Leave the BlackBerry™
at home.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES: CREATING GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
> December 11–14, 2006 November 27–30, 2007

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
> January 21–26, 2007 June 3–8, 2007

EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
> February 11–23, 2007 May 6–18, 2007

ADVANCED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
> June 3–July 6, 2007 September 23–October 26, 2007

62 harvard business review | hbr.org

M A N A G I N G Y O U R S E L F • The Decision to Trust

Bijur hired a respected judge to evaluate

Texaco’s HR policies, and the company

changed those that were deemed unfair

or not transparent. Moreover, senior ex-

ecutives were sent to all company loca-

tions to apologize for the humiliation

to which black workers had been sub-

jected. These meetings not only dem-

onstrated benevolent concern but also

opened up lines of communication be-

tween skeptical employees and top

management.

Collectively, these actions made it eas-

ier for disillusioned workers to place

their faith in the company again. Trust

wasn’t restored overnight – there’s no

quick fix for broken faith–but concerted

efforts to correct the sources of distrust

eventually paid off. In 1999 Bijur re-

ceived an award from a national African-

American group for commitment to di-

versity, and in 2000 Texaco received

praise from SocialFunds.com for being

a “model for challenging corporate

racism.”

Broken trust can be mended over

time if leaders consistently engage in

the right behaviors. The exhibit “Practi-

cal Ways of Managing Trust” identifies

some behaviors that are particularly

effective.

• • •

Trust is a measure of the quality of a re-

lationship – between two people, be-

tween groups of people, or between a

person and an organization. In totally

predictable situations the question of

trust doesn’t arise: When you know ex-

actly what to expect, there’s no need to

make a judgment call. The turbulence of

outsourcing, mergers, downsizing, and

changing business models creates a

breeding ground for distrust.

Leading in such an environment re-

quires acting in ways that provide clear

reasons to decide to trust. There is no re-

turning to the days when organizations

expected–and received–unconditional

loyalty from employees. But by using

this model, you may be able to create a

more dynamic and sustainable founda-

tion for productive relationships.

Reprint R0609B; HBR OnPoint 1056

To order, see page 159.

Practical Ways of Managing Trust

If this factor is low… then you should:

Risk Tolerance Spend more time explaining options and risks.

Evaluate processes and results separately;

recognize excellent work regardless of the

outcome.

Offer some sort of safety net.

Level of Adjustment Be patient; it simply takes longer to build trust

with some individuals.

Try to enhance confidence by recognizing achieve-

ments and by correcting failures through coach-

ing rather than harsh discipline.

Relative Power Provide choices when possible; avoid being

coercive.

Communicate that leadership decisions aren’t

made arbitrarily by explaining how they serve

organizational interests.

Security Find ways to temper the risk inherent in the

situation.

Expect to invest time in raising comfort levels.

Number of Similarities Use the word “we” more and the word “I” less.

Emphasize what you have in common (values,

membership, and so on).

Alignment of Interests Be clear yourself about whose interests you are

serving. Take others’ interests into account and

find a way to accommodate them where possible.

Focus on the overarching strategy, vision, and

goals.

Shape a culture that reinforces doing the right

thing for the enterprise.

Benevolent Concern Take actions that demonstrate a genuine

concern for others.

Serve others’ interests even if, on occasion, you

bear some loss (and find a tasteful way to show

that – by your choice – they gained more than

you did).

Engage in fair process.

Capability Find ways to demonstrate competence in

carrying out the task at hand.

Acknowledge areas of incompetence and compen-

sate by sharing or delegating responsibility.

Predictability and Integrity Underpromise and overdeliver.

If you can’t fulfill your promises, explain why

honestly.

Describe the values that drive your behavior

so that others see consistency rather than

randomness.

Level of Communication Increase the frequency and candor of your

communications.

Build a relationship beyond the constraints of

your respective roles – for example, by going out

to lunch or playing golf.

Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009

Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for

the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material

in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may

not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any

other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on

learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning

management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content

available through such means. For rates and permission, contact permissions@harvardbusiness.org.