--- title: "Performance and Trust in the Workplace" description: "Drawing from the US Navy SEALs' Performance vs. Trust Matrix, this post explains how to build a trust account and accumulate trust capital in the workplace to enhance long-term individual and team performance." canonical_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/trust-amount-in-career" author: "Mark Ku" author_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku" site: "Mark Ku's Tech Notes" date_published: "2023-12-03 01:01:35 +0800" category: "Management" tags: ["trust", "performance", "management", "career", "team", "leadership"] language: "en" license: "CC BY 4.0" license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" attribution: "when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original" --- # Performance and Trust in the Workplace > **TL;DR** — 歡迎收聽 Mark 的技術雜談，我是主持人璦廷。在職場中，能力強和值得信任，哪一個更重要呢？ 讓我們來看看美國海豹部隊的管理思維。他們將績效與信任進行矩陣分析，得出了一個重要結論。這個重點值得注意，高績效但低信任度的人，往往只顧個人利益，長期下來對團隊有害；相反地，中等績效卻擁有高信任度的人，遇到問題不逃避，反而最適合擔任領導者。 其實在職場中，每個人都有一個看不見的信任帳戶。主動回報進度、承擔責任、敢於承認錯誤並提出解決方案，都能穩步累積你的信任資本。反之，做事敷衍或推卸責任，則會快速消耗你的信任存款。當信任累積得越多，你能換取的資源與職場自由度也就越高。 總結來說，無論是極端的戰場還是日常的職場，信任才是團隊成功的基石。節目最後，想請大家思考一下，你目前的職場信任帳戶，是處於盈餘還是透支的狀態呢？我們下次見。 ## The US Navy SEALs have a unique management philosophy for identifying the most suitable leaders by analyzing individual performance and trust in a matrix. First, let's watch a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTo9e3ILmms&fbclid=IwAR03T_gO9Jrc-SoBbA1BXL2CakNw6Cecr4aKXtVb1k40lRzV9XZQQd0H1CI). ## Trust is especially crucial in the following two scenarios: * A US special forces team deep in the mountains of Afghanistan: In such a challenging and uncertain environment, mutual trust among team members is not only key to completing the mission but also the cornerstone of their survival. * A fleet on a long-term sea voyage: In such a closed and continuous maritime environment, strong team cohesion and trust are vital factors for ensuring navigational safety and efficiency. ## This management philosophy, which uses a matrix to analyze individual performance and trust, reveals several key insights ![Performance and Trust Matrix Analysis](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/trust-amount-in-career/images/1.png) 1. There are *n* ways to measure high performance, but there isn't a single method for measuring trust. 2. How do you measure trust? What does it look like when you're off the battlefield (behind the scenes)? Can they still be trusted? 3. High-performance, low-trust individuals are often detrimental to the team in the long run because they prioritize their own interests. These people are quite easy to find. 4. Medium-performance, high-trust individuals are the most suitable leaders. When problems arise, they won't run away; they'll work with you to solve them. ## Trusting Teams People who work together are not necessarily a team. Trust is the courage to be vulnerable, to admit mistakes out loud, and to raise your hand to ask for help. (From *The Infinite Game*) ## How to Build Trust in the Workplace In the workplace, everyone has an invisible "trust account." When you first join a company, you might start at zero. Through correct behavior and decisions, you can gradually accumulate trust. As your trust balance grows, the resources and professional freedom you can access will change. ## How to Increase Others' Trust in You 1. Proactively report progress and sync information upon completing tasks. 2. Proactively take ownership and be responsible for the outcomes. 3. Admit mistakes early and propose preventive measures. 4. Demonstrate professionalism in teamwork. 5. When encountering unclear issues, take the initiative to clarify them. 6. When faced with unreasonable tasks, don't stay silent; proactively communicate and negotiate. 7. Have a positive impact on the team. ... ### How to Decrease Others' Trust in You 1. Doing just enough to get by, without considering quality, simply to mark a task as "done." 2. When faced with unknown problems, making no effort to understand and giving careless answers. 3. Only doing work that interests you, while ignoring the requirements of the company and your manager. 4. Refusing to admit your own mistakes. 5. Shifting blame when faced with difficulties. 6. Being narcissistic, always thinking your work is perfect. 7. Always putting yourself first. 8. Having a negative impact on the team. ... ## Conclusion From the management philosophy of the US Navy SEALs, we learn that whether in extreme environments or the everyday workplace, trust and teamwork are the keys to success and failure. By building and maintaining trust, we can not only improve individual and team performance but also create a more harmonious and effective work environment. ## References [Link](https://albert-kuo.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-infinite-game-trusting-teams.html) --- ## About this article and its author Originally published on [Mark Ku's Tech Notes](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/trust-amount-in-career) License: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original ### About the author **[Mark Ku](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku)** — Software Solution Provider - 10+ years senior software engineer, now an AI Builder - Focused on large-platform architecture — North-American e-commerce, AI SaaS subscription billing - Combining AI Agents and automation to build evolvable product foundations ### Free tools built by the author All of these are free to use: - [Free PDF Sign Tool](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/pdf-sign): Online PDF sign tool — draw, type, or upload a signature, then drag, resize, and download. 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No sign-up, nothing uploaded to a server, and mermaid.live share links work as-is. - [React Intl Phone Number](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/react-intl-phone-number): react-intl-phone-number is an open-source React component: framework-agnostic and antd-free, with E.164 in/out, a searchable flag / country-code dropdown, configurable validation levels (strict / mobile-strict / loose), themeable CSS, and i18n — phone logic powered by google-libphonenumber. Lightweight and fully typed. Free and open source (MIT). - [Uptime Kuma Cluster](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/uptime-kuma-cluster): Turn single-node Uptime Kuma into a highly available cluster: OpenResty + Lua smart load balancing, shared MariaDB state, health checks and automatic failover, plus cluster-management REST APIs. One Docker Compose command to start. 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