A blog reader recently asked me the question “How do I earn the trust of those I lead?” His question is a good one and that’s why I wanted to use it as the basis for this article.
Trust is important to those in a leadership position. If your team doesn’t trust you, you will struggle with performance issues, quality control, and more.
Photo by McKenna Phillips
Trust is the bedrock of great leadership. You need to learn how to get your people to trust you.
Today, that’s what we’re going to look into.
3 Ways Leaders Earn Trust
Keep your promises:
You hear this and you go “Duh! Of course leaders who want to be trusted must keep their promises.” Keeping your word is paramount in being trustworthy.
But…
I want you to think about it. How many times have you promised something to a team member, a spouse, or even a child and reneged on the promise?
You didn’t fail to keep your promise because you’re a mean-spirited person. You failed to keep your promise because other things came up.
That’s okay. Things come up all the time. This doesn’t mean you’re not accountable to following through with your promises.
The more promises you fail to keep, the more you lose the trust of those you lead.
Commit today to change. Commit to be a leader who keeps their promises.
Communicate your reasons:
You don’t make decisions based on your current fancy. You choose to make your decisions based on research and fact.
That’s awesome. That’s not enough.
When you make your decisions known to your team, you need to go a step further than giving them the decision. Help your team understand your reasons behind your decisions.
By being open and clear about the reasons you made a decision that impacted the lives of your team members, you’re able to show them you trust them to understand you. You also open yourself up to be trusted.
Your team will see you’re not making decisions randomly. You have a method behind your decisions.
Communicate your reasons for decisions. This will create trust.
Hold yourself (and others) accountable:
Many team members lose trust in their leaders because they fail to see the leader hold themselves and others accountable. The leader lets poor performance, lackadaisical attitudes, and gossip continue.
When team members observe bad behaviors that aren’t addressed by their leadership, they begin to wonder whether or not the leader is truly trustworthy.
People are looking for leaders who will stand their ground when need be. They’re looking for leaders who will call themselves out when they missed the mark. And they’re looking for people who keep things rolling.
Be a leader who holds themselves and those they lead accountable.
Earning the trust of your team members will go a long way. Their trust will empower them to get through the difficult times in an organization because they know they’re being lead by a leader who cares and will get things done.
Work on earning the trust of your team.
Question: What are you doing to earn the trust of those you lead? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.