TRUST QUOTES
Why might trust be important when you need to have a “hard
conversation” leading to change in a teacher’s practice?
The feeling of trust is lodged squarely in the same place as the WHYthe
limbic brainand it’s often powerful enough to trump empirical research, or
at least seed doubt.
You have to earn trust by communicating and demonstrating that you share the same values and
beliefs. You have to talk about your WHY and prove it with WHAT you do.
Those who lead are able to do so because those who follow trust that the decisions made at the top
have the best interest of the group at heart. In turn, those who trust work hard because they feel
like they are working for something bigger than themselves.
Only when individuals can trust the culture or organization will they take personal risks in order to
advance that culture or organization as a whole.
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When it comes to growth, relational trust pertains to feelings that the culture
supports continuous learning rather than early judgments about how weak or
strong you might be.
Principals who had high relational trust with teachers as a group were more
likely to act to dismiss incompetent teachersan act that was appreciated by
staff as a whole; in high-performing groups, peers don’t like members who
don’t pull their own weight.
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Expert, or mature, groups likewise are more effective in practice. Mature staffs
enjoy a high degree of trust with colleagues and leaders.
They are more capable of meeting school improvement goals
than less mature staffs that have less trust and fewer
collaborative skills.
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Trust is just one of five behaviors that cohesive teams must establish to build a healthy organization.
However, it is by far the most important of the five because it is the foundation for the others. ..It
makes teamwork possible.
Trust must be established if real conflict is to occur. In a similar way that trust
enables conflict, conflict allows a team to move on the next critical behavior of a
cohesive team: achieving commitment.
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If anyone is responsible for lifting up a vision of the school as a
trustworthy environment for all constituencies, it is the person
charged with leading the school. But, failing to first establish a
benevolent relationship with people we are charged with leading,
would affect the perception of those we are trying to lead, thus
confusing zeal for change as judgmental and/or impatience.
Because of the hierarchical nature of the relationship within a school,
the principal exercises considerable authority over teachers and staff
members. Within this asymmetrical relationship, it is the responsibility of the person with greater
power to take the initiative to build and sustain trusting relationships.
In schools, principals base their trust judgments of teachers more heavily on competence, reliability,
and commitment whereas teachers’ views of principals tend to be anchored more in caring, integrity
and openness (Blake & MacNeil, 1998; Spuck & MacNeil, 1999).
Trustworthy leaders put the culture of trust ahead of their own go needs. Skillful principals often
earn the trust of their faculty by leading quietly: they are soft on people
and hard on projects. They combine personal humilityexercising
restraint and modestywith tenacity and the professional will to see
that complex work of educating a diverse group of students is
accomplished at a high level of quality.
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Effective principals recognized that improvement must be grounded
in continuing efforts to build trust across the school community.