Inside Illumio Values: Build Trust

Wondering what it’s really like to work at Illumio? This series, written by employees, drills down into Illumio’s core values. Hear from SuzAnne Sullivan, People Partner Director, R&D, about how we ‘build trust’.

You can build an empire on egos or trust. Not both.

It is not an accident that Build Trust is the last of the Illumio values featured here.

Is it because of the overwhelming pressure to come up with a clever headline that leverages the fact that we are the leader in Zero Trust security? Or because, at this moment in time, Build Trust and a corporate blog seem too disparate to feel genuine? Or because, simply, it is the hardest one to write about?

All of these things. And one more. Build Trust is the one value that can only exist if the five preceding values are already well understood and embedded in the culture. Seek Truth, Run to Challenges, Bring Your Best, Onwards Together, and Leverage Differences work in service to that ultimate human connection: trust.

Living out the Illumio values, even when it is hard, is how we demonstrate to each other that we are trustworthy with the things that are most important. We do this day in and day out, and that builds trust internally with each other and externally with our customers. The trust I give towards you, in relying on your follow-through, in believing that you are always bringing your best and seeking truth, creates the relationship that allows us to move onwards together.

When you name the aspirational values that uniquely identify your organization, you cannot stack-rank those values, but you can recognize their causality and the nuances of their interconnectedness. Each day that we live out all our values well, we build trust.

There are a lot of organizations out there where empire-building and egos drive decisions and group dynamics. In the absence of a larger team perspective, the trust is undermined and how people relate to their co-workers becomes an afterthought. It requires hard work to build that ultimate human connector of trust. Hard work from everyone.

As you look around your organization, think about trust as the byproduct of values lived out. Here at Illumio, we are focused on working together, in virtuous ways. As a result, the empire-building and egos have a mitigating force. Our values keep the culture on track. The end result is that we are building trust and, in turn, that trust is the gatekeeper. Building trust ensures that all of our values are lived out as we continue to execute and achieve our successes together.

If you’re interested in building a career at a company that focuses on building trust, I invite you to explore our current opportunities at Careers at Illumio.