The Breach of Trust and Betrayal: Thoughts for Entrepreneurial Managers

THE BREACH OF TRUST AND BETRAYAL: THOUGHTS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGERS

(Document GE2-128 Translated)

The role of trust is fundamental within organizations and has been widely investigated. There is a generalized consensus accepting trust as important and useful in a large variety of aspects within an organization such as: teamwork, leadership, goal setting, evaluation of performance, developing labor relations, negotiation, etc.

In the same way, there is a growing concern about mistrust and the violation or breach of trust within organizations. The biggest hazard for modern organization, are not external elements, but rather “the betrayal of ambitious, selfish and deceitful people, who worry more about their own benefit than about the organization’s aim” (Hogan & Hogan, 1994). The same conditions required for the emergence of trust are the same required so that that same trust be betrayed.

If, for example, we consider that it is hard to control and evaluate someone that we put our faith into, we try to promote a relationship of trust and, it is precisely those relationships of trust that are the ones which offer many possibilities to violate that confidence. Betrayal, therefore, is the dark side of trust and loyalty, which are cornerstones of social life.

There are tons of examples of respected and efficient employees that breach the trust their peers or superiors had placed on them. Betrayal in daily life goes from not calling back to deliberately sabotaging the reputation of someone, which is more usual than we think.

Trust has been studied from hundreds of different angles, like integrity, reliability, deviant and perverse behavior at work, antisocial conduct within the organization, ethics at work, betray in close relationships like friendship and marriage, industrial or international espionage.

In particular, it is interesting to study the triggers of betrayal at it’s outset, the betrayal that happens for the first time; it is more interesting than the betrayal as a reaction, the one that happens as revenge. At the same time, it is really revealing to study betrayal from the point of view of the one that carries out this act of betrayal.

THE CONCEPT OF BETRAYAL

Betrayal can be defined in relationships as the violation of expectations of trust in which relationships are based. Violations of the fundamental expectations are the source of betrayal. From the point of view of subordinates there are abundant variations of violation of trust: coercive or threatening behavior, withdrawal of committed support, blaming for personal mistakes, favoritism, sexual harassment, unfair dismissal, misuse of private information, etc. Other similar behaviors may be changing the rules of events afterwards or
“a posteriori”, the violation of contracts, breaking of promises, lying, stealing others' ideas, dishonest accusations or revealing secrets.