When I was first exposed to the trading floor of a global bank (as a consultant), I learned about a curious phenomenon.
Traders would sell or buy very complex securities worth tens of millions over a phone call and there was no proof of the deal (e.g., phone recording) other than the details they had jotted down on a sticky note.
Yet, nobody ever cheated — even if a trade lost them millions of dollars, no trader would ever go back on the deal. Nobody wilfully violated this unwritten rule.
And this is why trading was even possible. Without trust, financial markets would not have come into existence.
If you are building a team or an organization, this lesson is just as important for you.
You don’t need expensive consultants or complicated mission statements. The most important thing you need is to build trust — when people say something they should mean it, starting with the top leadership.
If you have trust, then competence, capability, and resources matter.
But when trust is missing, a collapse is only a matter of time. And usually, not a lot of time.
– Rajan