Trust and teamwork.

You don't need to like your teammates, but it's important that you trust and respect them, and they do the same to you.

In The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight to Create Superior Results, one of the subjects covered is trust. According to the author, Saj-nicole Joni, there are three fundamental distinctions of trust:

Personal Trust:
- trust that develops in the workplace from shared tasks and an understanding of what makes your teammates tick. It's knowing that your teammate won’t let you down when it counts, and vice versa. It's asking questions such as:

On a personal level, do I trust this person?

Do I believe this person is basically honest and ethical?

Do I believe s/he will make good when s/he gives his/her word?

Do I believe this person is basically well intentioned?

Do I believe this person will handle confidential information with care and
discretion?

Expertise Trust:
- trust that comes from competence and knowledge in a particular subject matter or process. Expertise trust focuses on the knowledge, judgment and thinking abilities of someone else.

Do I trust that this person is an expert in his/her field?

Is their knowledge current and up-to-date?

Do I trust the information they gather to inform and support their opinions?

Do they have an ability to understand my situation and apply their knowledge to it?

Do I trust their judgment regarding risk, options and tradeoffs?

Do they have the ability to innovate and develop custom solutions to hard problems?

Structural Trust:
- trust that refers to how much someone’s position or role affects your confidence that s/he will be able to deal with you straightforwardly.

Do they have a personal agenda?

Are they in a role where their judgment and thinking is likely to be significantly influenced by their need to advance their goals, self-interests, or advocacy?

“Leadership is trusting enough to be trusted; having a curious mind; having a listening ear; having an open heart” - Robert Cooper