The Trust Dilemma

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Communications Management   Talent Management   Teams   ProjectsAtWork  

There are times when your responsibilities to the organization may be at odds with the trust you have built with your team members. When you are faced with split loyalties, what do you do?

It’s happened a few times and it never gets any easier: a team member confided in me that she was going to be leaving to accept another job. The paperwork wasn’t finalized, so she hadn’t formally announced anything; she was telling me as a friend and colleague. Of course, she didn’t want me to say anything until it was official.

This is a tough situation for all project leaders. We have an obligation to ensure that we do the best that we can for the organization, but if we betray the trust of someone who told us something in confidence then we undermine the relationship that we have with our teams — an untenable position for a project leader who relies on an environment of trust and respect to be successful. So what do we do?

I always used to wish that people wouldn’t tell me things like this; if I didn’t know then I wouldn’t be placed in the difficult position of having to deal with conflicting obligations. However, I now feel privileged to be told about these situations. It is a sign that the person really does trust you, validation that you have been successful in building an environment where your team believes in you and your …

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