Trust, as a verb

I do not hide information from the people I work with, if I can avoid it. I have wide-reaching responsibilities, and these responsibilities (and my seniority) often result in me learning information before others do. Sometimes, I am asked not to let people know what I know. This might be because the information I've been told is not set in stone yet; it might be because the data isn't fully matured yet, or a variety of other reasons.

Wherever possible, I tell everyone who is affected everything I can, ethically. Not everything that I have been told I can; everything I ethically can. I tell people: "I was asked not to tell you this yet because plans might change, but here's what I know...". I tell people: "I don't know for sure this will happen, but I'm working to make this a reality, so I thought you should know...". I tell people: "Not everyone involved knows yet, but you're affected by this so I wanted you to know this...".

I'm not, generally, supposed to do that. But I've never had cause to regret it; the people I work with are, consistently, adults. They understand that things can change; they know that I'm honest with them about what I can guarantee, and what I can't. They appreciate being trusted with more information, and shown that I believe they can handle if a "maybe" becomes a "not this time" rather than a "yes".

People are understanding, as a rule. They understand when they are being given information that is a possibility rather than a certainty, when they're being given advance warning rather than something being officially announced. They understand this trust, and they appreciate it. And, if you trust people often enough and reliably enough, you can sometimes rely on the fact that people trust you back.

Some time ago, I was pulled into some work that was sensitive. It was in connection to an ongoing court case, which has subsequently been settled. I was pulled into the work in my role as a Staff Engineer, to help deliver some time sensitive and critical changes, and I wasn't working alone, but I was asked to keep the reasons for the work to myself, due to the case's existence being, at the time I was doing the work, a matter of confidentiality.

This meant I was in the unpleasant situation of needing to ask for assistance from people to whom I could not explain why I needed that assistance. I needed to say: "This is urgent, but I can't explain to you why right now."

I have worked to be consistently transparent. To trust those around me with information, and to show them that I think they deserve to know what's going on when I can tell them. And so, when I say to someone that I cannot tell them why I need their help, they believe me.

I got the help I needed. I got it without awkward questions or hesitation. I told people it was urgent, and that I needed their help, and that I couldn't explain why. And because whenever I can be open and honest about what I am doing, and why, I am... people believed me. They believed that it was urgent, and that I couldn't explain me. I had trusted them, and they trusted me back in turn.

If you're in a position of power and influence, whether that's leading a team or a company, or even just hearing something earlier because of who you shared a coffee with, think: Could I trust the people around me a little more? Because if you do, you might just find that when it really matters, they trust you too.