Building and Understanding Trust Relationships

Abstract

Abstract : The military as a profession is built on a foundation of trust. Without it, the military loses the ability to serve its client, the American people. This threatens the military's ability to develop and employ its unique expertise -- the application of lethal force to protect the nation's values and interests. This paper opens the aperture to allow a broader exploration of the concept of trust and its application within dynamic relationships between senior military leaders and the American people, political leaders, and subordinates in the military. Both character and competence underpin a senior military leader's ability to build trust within these three critical relationships. Trust between senior military leaders and these groups must be maintained if the military is to be perceived as a true profession -- a profession entrusted to ethically apply its unique expertise in defense of America's values and interests. As trustees of the military profession, senior military leaders serve as enablers of trust in these critical relationships.