# EDUC 7620 Reflection Week 6 # Trust Really Does Matter Perhaps one of the most challenging things about being in this program while not being a school leader currently is the immense amount of guilt I feel for the missed opportunities I let slip by because of my own hubris, weaknesses, impatience, and so many other shortcomings. Don't get me wrong, I was a great leader and did amazing things for students and teachers, but there are so many areas where I could have been so much better. I really liked Tschannen-Moran's (2014) definition of trust: "Trust is one's willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent." In his book the Speed of Trust, Covey talks about Smart Trust, which is judging wisely whether to extend trust or not, and he suggests that where you start the trust process from makes all the difference: > But while your decision may appear to be the same, beginning in [Smart Trust] Zone 2 makes all the difference because the approach itself will almost always build trust. (p. 308, 2008) What he describes there is largely what Tschannen-Moran is talking about. From the leader's perspective, you start with being vulnerable, benevolent, and open. This gives the others the opportunity to do the same. But when you start from a place of distrust, or suspicion it damages the relationship because you're not starting from a place of trust (Covey, 2008, p. 307). The one extending trust is the one taking a risk. The one receiving trust is receiving mercy. But both of these sides of trust require effort. There is a Latin proverb in Covey's book: "It is equally an error to trust all men or no man" (2008, p. 301). This harmonizes with what Tschannen-Moran said: > Solomon and Flores (2001) note that trust is "cultivated through speech, conversation, commitments, and action. Trust is never something 'already at hand,' it is always a matter of human effort. It can and often must be conscientiously created, not simply taken for granted" (p. 87). These authors assert that it is unethical to withhold trust without good reason just as it is unethical to treat a person unfairly in other ways (2014, p. 16). Every time there is a change in leadership in a school, the school has to go through the process to trust the new school leader. Some of that trust comes naturally through inherent or positional authority. Some of that comes through people being their best selves. Some comes through reputation. Regardless, we are all "but part of a chain of people who have led or will lead the school. Each school leader is being given the great responsibility of all the people in the school, especially the children, and the school itself, now and into the future" (Berkowitz, 2021, loc 1851). As one of my superintendents was fond of reminding me, "your chapter one is not the school's chapter 1. They existed before you and will out last you." This wasn't meant to discourage me or make me think I wasn't going to last! Quite the opposite, it was meant to encourage me to recognize that in order to build trust, that was the first step: acknowledging that I knew there was more before me and would be more after me. ## References - Berkowitz, M. W. (2021). _PRIMED for character education: Six design principles for school improvement_. Routledge. - Covey, S. M. R., & Merrill, R. R. (2008). _The speed of trust: The one thing that changes everything_ (Kindle ed). Free Press. - Tschannen-Moran, M. (2014). _Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools_ (Second edition). Jossey-Bass. > [!ai]+ AI Summary > > Trust is a delicate thing, and it takes effort on both sides to build and maintain. As a leader, it's important to start from a place of vulnerability, benevolence, and openness in order to foster trust within your team. It's also important to judge wisely when extending trust, as blindly trusting everyone or no one can lead to problems. [[EDUC 7620|educ7620]]