I make this point all the time in my speaking and consulting, yet I don’t think I have ever blogged about it directly. We all want trust. We want to be able to trust our colleagues in the workplace, and we certainly want to be trusted by them. A “high-trust” environment is universally sought after and admired. Everybody likes trust.

But here are a few things we don’t like: taking risks and exposing ourselves to vulnerability. We seek to minimize this in the workplace, don’t we? We play it safe, we reveal only the minimum necessary. To make yourself vulnerable is probably considered a poor leadership move in a lot of organizations.

So here’s the catch: there is no trust without risk. The very definition of trust is to expose yourself to vulnerability, and trust that the other person or group will not take advantage of that, and will work to protect your interests instead. That’s trust. If you minimize the vulnerability and the risk, then you’re not really building trust. There has to be something on the line.

This one is particularly hard for leaders who are consumed by the burden of their responsibility, being at the top of the organizational chart. It’s THEIR butt on the line, and the situation is dreadfully complex, so they choose the burden of responsibility. Beneath that burden, they rarely choose risk and vulnerability.

Instead, they focus on getting things done, and getting “their” people to work “for” them. They push for results, and struggle with how to motivate people to work both harder and smarter, with the ultimate goal of reducing this complex burden. If there are bumps in the road, they may have to jump down a few levels to help people get things done correctly (note that under the burden of responsibility, it is never viewed as “micromanaging”). Vulnerability and risk (thus trust) are seen as luxuries that we just can’t afford.

It’s no wonder that only 30% of employees are engaged. What if, instead of choosing the burden of responsibility, we chose to create responsibility in others in our organization? It would be a new dance, but I think that’s a piece of what would turn around our employee engagement numbers. But that will require trust. And that will require risk.