Building Trust With Your Team

• April 2, 2020

If leaders want to be effective, they must earn the trust of those they lead. Developing trust is crucial for your team’s success as well as your own. Fifty-five percent of business leaders feel a lack of trust is a serious threat to both their team and business success. Trust isn’t granted by others; it is earned through consistency, effective communication, and follow-throughs. Leaders must have the power and impact to inspire their teams and influence them to act upon what is said. Even though it takes time to earn trust, it can be lost quickly.

1. Consistent, Effective Communication Is Key

Effective communication is key to earning influence as a leader. To be an effective communicator, you must communicate clearly, concisely and consistently. Priorities and goals must not just be continually repeated but lived through the leader’s actions and decisions. It requires intentional listening skills. Leaders must tune into what their employees are saying, both verbally and non-verbally. They must avoid distraction and listen with intent to hear the entire message. Leaders must commit to the ongoing improvement of their own communication skills. They also must be open to letting others know they are always striving for personal development of communication skills. This action demonstrates your priority on effective communication skills and will encourage employees to do the same.

Don’t:
• Send long-winded emails, voicemails and text messages that are confusing and lack a point.
• Get distracted by anything – people, your phone or computer – while others are speaking.
• Expect employees to communicate effectively if you fail to invest time to improve your own.

2. Be Transparent and Trustworthy

Employees recognize lies and withheld truths. It’s not appropriate for leaders to share all decisions openly, but leaders must be open and honest about what they can share. This behavior creates an atmosphere of suspicion and undermines the relationship. When leaders fail to be honest and earn trust, employees become less engaged in the workplace. To avoid having employees check out, recognize they are adults and equally invested in the success of the organization. Be honest when providing feedback, both positive and negative. Be open about struggles and directional changes necessary to reach goals. When leaders allow employees to engage in conversation and decision-making, it drives loyalty and a deeper understanding. Openness, honesty, and transparency are vital to building trustworthy relationships.

Don’t:
• Say one thing and do another, thinking your team won’t notice.
• Protect your team by sharing altered versions of the truth or white lies.
• Fail to provide feedback and input, leaving employees wondering where you stand.

3. Don’t Play the Blame Game

Most employees want their organizations to succeed. No one wants to fail, and yet sometimes failure happens. We have all experienced times when great ideas fail to launch, decisions backfire and projects fall short of their objectives. Nevertheless, failure stings. Few things can add insult to injury like a leader who places blame on someone or something. When leaders take a stand for the decision or idea and take responsibility for the failure, it creates a deep sense of trust among employees. Additionally, it creates a sense of freedom for employees to think big and create, fully knowing they have a safe place to pursue great ideas. Few things build trust quite like knowing someone has your back and will support you in your actions. When leaders demonstrate faith in their employees and their decisions, employees reciprocate.

Don’t:
• Set your team up to fail in unusual situations by failing to provide ongoing guidance and feedback.
• Blame other leaders for decisions that employees aren’t happy with or don’t want to hear.
• Encourage employees to pursue ideas then reprimand them if failure occurs.

4. Create a Connection

Leadership is not all about getting the job done. It’s also about getting to know the people doing the job on a personal level. When leaders invest time getting to know employees more deeply, they create a genuine connection within the business. Take time to get to know your employees. Understand their interests, long-term professional goals, and personal priorities. Understand how you can help them achieve their goals both inside and outside of the office. Take time to meet with your employees regularly. Get out of your office and walk to their space. Be sincere in asking about their day and their struggles. Acknowledge that building genuine relationships starts by building trust. When you invest in your employee’s success, they’ll invest in yours.

Don’t:
• Ask questions about your employees’ personal life, desires or goals and then forget the details.
• Pretend to be invested in their professional success and fail to follow up beyond the first talk.
• Say you prioritize family, rest and recovery, and then you send after-hours messages.

5. Lead by Example

Leadership is all about leading by example. Team culture is created by leaders who set the tone based on actions and decisions. When leaders prioritize the need to improve their own communication skills, employees will as well. When leaders are honest and demonstrate transparency in their decision-making, employees will be honest in their actions, successes, and failures. When leaders take ownership of bad choices and team failures, employees will work harder to seek success and take personal responsibility for their actions. By striving to develop a genuine connection with employees, team members will work harder to get to know each other, too. The tone is set at the top. When leaders prioritize their team, the team will prioritize the team’s success.

Don’t:
• Lead with a “Do as I say, not as I do” mindset.
• Believe employees won’t notice when your actions aren’t consistent with your words.
• Follow the example of poor leaders you report to and use it as an excuse to do the same.

Your success depends on your team. You cannot succeed on your own. To experience success, start first by investing in your organization and putting into practice the actions that develop trust. Make your team a priority and commit to being the best leader you can be. Everyone will benefit and win in the end.