rotmanmagazine.ca / 131leaders serves to illustrate how leaders can build or undercut
both relational and transactional trust. Now, let’s return to
Cal’s case, to illustrate some of these behavioural insights in
action.
BUILDING RELATIONAL TRUST. The subliminal sense of con-
nection that underlies relational trust is facilitated by the
ExPI’s character facets and others with a socio-emotional
element. Colleagues experienced Cal as authentic in that
he was genuine in his interactions, and this contributed to
their persistence in working with him; his strong sense of the
values of scientific inquiry were unquestionable — though
we’ve noted that an over-strength in integrity contributed
to a lack of emotional restraint and loss of composure when
under stress. Cal’s protectiveness of his team was a demon-
stration of concern, as was his advocacy for the professional
and technical development of some favoured researchers.
Consequently, some on his team were fiercely loyal to him.
However, Cal’s almost complete lack of humility was
off-putting and damaged his relationships. Although he had
sufficient resonance to recognize what others were thinking
or feeling, his commitment to his own ideas interfered with
any tendency to acknowledge other’s point of view. Mean-
while, Cal’s commitment, energy, and preparation projected
an appearance of thorough professionalism. Given this mix
of qualities, it is not surprising that people often felt a strong
initial trusting connection with Cal that waned as they
gained more exposure to him.
BUILDING TRANSACTIONAL TRUST. The contributing elements of
transactional trust are present in all three Executive Pres-
ence dimensions (Character, Substance and Style), and in
each case, Cal’s behaviour within each of these dimensions
affected peoples’ willingness to trust him. Research shows
that we trust people based on our past experience with them
because we believe they are more likely to display that same
behaviour again. We noted above that exposure to Cal’s
off-putting behaviours decreased initial Relational Trust,
because this experience increased the risks associated with
trusting Cal in the future. Similarly, past experience with his
low restraint and composure led people to expect emotional
outbursts, which eroded trust in Cal. While his decisiveness
and bias for action in the facet of confidence and his asser-
tiveness in taking a stand enhance trust, Cal’s inability to ef-
fectively manage conflicts arising from his assertiveness and
Andrew Atkins is Vice President of Client Experience at Bates
Communications, based in Wellesley, Massachusetts. In 2014 and 2015
he was named a Top 100 Thought Leader by Trust Across America.Highly-trusted leaders outperformed untrusted
leaders in 86 of the 90 behaviours on the ExPI.difficulty in maintaining a reliable pattern of interactivity in
communication worked in the other direction.
Being the smartest guy in the room in sharing his
practical wisdom added to perceptions of Cal’s expertise and
competence, which bolsters trust. Similarly, Cal’s confidence
in making decisions contributed to his perceived expertise:
he was visibly committed to a vision of Obsidian’s potential
and painted a compelling picture of the promise of their ther-
apies. Cal was also authentically transparent about his pas-
sion and commitment, making his intentionality abundantly
clear. Others were able to clearly see how they and Cal had a
shared purpose and trusted Cal to act in alignment with those
goals. On the other hand, Cal’s belief that he alone needed to
be the final arbiter on decisions decreased the sense of inclu-
siveness others felt and bottle-necked the intentionality in work
processes, creating execution risks and decreasing trust.
In working with Cal on his relationships with his team
and peers, we were able to help him appreciate that trust was
something he could build intentionally by working across
many of the Executive Presence Index facets. Working
across these 15 facets decreased the likelihood of Cal’s trig-
gering risk-averse responses, and from a Behavioural Eco-
nomics perspective, allowed him to leverage Prospect The-
ory insights to increase trust. The result: Cal’s colleagues
were able to better appreciate his underlying motivations
and he was able to build bridges across disciplines during a
crucial phase of Obsidian’s growth.In closing
Behavioural Economics has enhanced our understanding of
decision processes and individual behaviour in many areas
of business. Going forward, leaders can only gain from in-
sights into the biases and mental habits to which we are all
prone. The case of Cal provides a window into how to shift
from being subject to those biases, to being able to use them
constructively to shape your leadership behaviour.