work in the corporate hierarchy, is at the same time a giver and receiver of trust. The
willingness to trust also depends on the institutional framework, according to
Sprenger. Managers should therefore ask: “Is trust a social norm in our company?
What are the trust issues in our company/our department? What are the biggest
obstacles to trust? Which of our rules are hindering trust? Are there too many
rules?”
Another prerequisite for mutual trust is “self-trust” (self-confidence), as
Sprenger describes it. In order to be successful, the leader must dare to go out on
the open sea and lose sight of the safe shore for a moment. They must have inner
serenity and the strength to endure the tension between expectation and the possible
betrayal of trust. Timid managers try to control their environment; managers who
consider themselves “enablers,” however, know that people are cannot be con-
trolled but can be influenced. Self-confidence is not a “Look out, here I come!”
attitude, but instead calls for respect for other people and the calm and sovereign
certainty to deal even with the unexpected, to survive even a breach of trust.
The courage needed to trust stems from this self-confidence, because trusting
means daring. Leaders need courage to make themselves vulnerable, and they need
courage to attend to conflicts in a timely manner rather than delaying dealing with
them.
2.3.3.7 Trust’s Greatest Enemy
To Sprenger the principle of competition, which is especially prevalent among men,
is the greatest enemy of trust. Competition and struggles over rank prevent coopera-
tion. Hierarchies and pecking orders can turn all the members of an organization into
opponents in the struggle for higher positions, but competition is a zero-sum game:
one person’s gain is the other’s loss. Each employee becomes his or her own profit
center. So far this is understandable and logical. Yet Sprenger has also claimed that in
flat hierarchies competition is even tougher, because the prospects are lower. In a flat
hierarchy there are usually other symbols of success that are less concerned with
status, power, etc., such as the recognition of a job well done.
In any case, the question remains: What can a manager do in order to promote
cooperation and trust? It may be an awareness of common problems. What welds
people together is the understanding of common problems and working together to
solve them. This can be achieved only through cooperation. Here the problems that
people are working on together have to be important and self-explanatory. “They
must therefore succeed in making the company into a problem-solving community
with the focus on shaping a common future” (Sprenger 2002b, p. 152).
2.3.3.8 When Trust Is Breached
Trust is fragile. You have to invest considerable time, effort and openness in order
to create a trusting relationship with employees, superiors, customers and partners,
2.3 The Relationship Between Leader and Led 97