Encourages Trust

Are You a Trustworthy Leader?

Trust Lies At The Core Of Effective Relationships. But How Do You Encourage Trust? Either In Or Out Of The Workplace, Trust Generates Moods Of Goodwill As A Leader With A Global Manufacturing Company, I Have The Pleasure To Several Lead Teams. I Find That A Team That Trust Their Leader Will Be Fully Engaged; The Team Will Have The Willingness To Go The Next Step And It Enables Collaboration With More Productive Outcomes. It Starts With The Team Embracing That Their Leader Is Trustworthy And Dependable. Trust Is Key For Motivation. When There’s Trust, Things Go More Smoothly. People Pull Together, Relying On Each Other To Do Their Part. They Are Better Able To Work Through Conflicts In Difficult Times. Without Trust, There Are Unnecessary Speed Bumps, Heighten Doubt, Dips In Performance.

Being Trustworthy Is all About Being Honest And Authentic. It’s About Acting With Integrity. Showing Consistency being Credible. If Your Trusted, It Means Others Can Count On You To Deliver And To Look After Their Highest Interest. The Team Will Trust That You Will Make Good Judgment. However, Trust Is Based On Mutuality-You Need To Give It To Get It. One Way That I Am Consistent In Demonstrating This Is By Having Quarterly One-On-One Meetings With Each Member Of My Team. Meeting with my staff Helps Me to grow As A Leader and Develop That Professional Relationship At The Same Time. Understand The Stresses, Roadblocks And Concerns My Members May Be Having. Enables Me To Get In Front Of Potential Problems Before They Get Out Of Hand. I Have Found By Doing This That I Have Made Myself Approachable At Any Given Time For Any Member Of My Team To Come To Me With Both Issues And Innovative Ideas. It All Started With Encouraging Trust Within My Team.

Neurochemistry Can Shed Some Light On How To Build Trust Foster A Sense Of Team, Which Can Lead To Greater Productivity. There Are Some Basic Sources Of Stress That Decrease Trust, Undermine Relationships, And Reduce Productivity:

Honestly, Many Of These Are Inherent Part Of Living And Working In The 21^st Century. While Providing Feedback To Help People Grow Can Build Trust, Constantly Scrutinizing People’s Work Can Erode It. Find The Right Balance. If You Can Reduce The Stress Strict Triggers Among Your Team Members, You’ll Be Able To Reduce Cortisol Levels, Have Healthier, Happier, More Relaxed And More Productive Team Members. Encourage Team Members With Positive Comments. Feel The Sense Of Community And Cohesive So That No One Feels Like An Outsider. Be Fair. A People Find Answers To Questions That Are Preventing Them From Getting The Work Done. And, When You Don’t Have The Answers, Help Team Members Define What They Have Control Over, What Choices They Can Make. Finally, In A Time Of Doing More With Less, Be Compassionate About How Much You Are Expecting And Ask Yourself How You Can Do A Better Job Of Balancing New Realistic And Ambitious Expectations Are.

Ten Tips On Encouraging Trust

1. Failing To Deliver? Be More Reliable. People Rely On Each Other To Follow Through On The Commitments. To Meet Deadlines. To Contribute Their Fair Share. Reliability Is One Of The Quickest Ways You Can Demonstrate Trust. You Can Show It During Your First Meeting With Someone By Just Being On Time. By Returning Calls. By Passing On Information You Promise To Send. By Giving People A Heads Up If Circumstances Have Changed. Failing To Do These Things Damages Relationships And Decreased Productivity. The Following Through Isn’t Your Strength, Identify The Main Reasons And Address Them. If You Tend To Forget, Write Things Down Or Set Up Alerts On Your Smart Phone. If You’re Often Running Behind, Work On Better Time Management. (Personal Credibility - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hr.wayne.edu/leads/resource-guide/personal-credibilty)

2. Trouble With Consistency? Align Your Words And Actions. Probably Nothing Chills Trust More Than A Person Saying One Thing And Doing Something Else. People Want Consistency. You Can Deliver An Inspiring Message With Convincing Calls-To-Action. But, If The Next Day You Do Something Quite Contrary, People May No Longer Buy It. Worse Yet, They May Question Your Credibility. Having Integrity Means Representing Yourselves Accurately. Knowing Who You Are. What You Believe.

3. Withholding Too Much? Share More Openly. Do You Often Keep Things To Yourself? Tend To Hold Back Information Or Opinions? Err On The Side Of Non—Disclosure? It May Not Be Your Intention, But People Around You May Begin To Wonder. Wonder What You’re Up To, What Your Agenda Is, Whether You’re Hoping To Gain An Advantage Over Them. Why Aren’t You Sharing More Openly? It May Be That You Have Reserved Nature Or Prefer Privacy. Or That You Don’t Want To Lose Control Or Peerless And Authoritative. Regardless Of The Reasons, It May Be Time To Make Some Adjustments. Organizations Function On The Flow Of Information. 

4. Unable To Meet Expectations? Grow Your Capability. When Someone isn’t trusted, Is Not Necessarily About The Lack Of Honesty And Integrity. It Might Be That People Lack Confidence In Your Ability To Perform Your Job Well. To Meet Or Exceed Expectations. To Execute At The Top Of Your Game. As A Result, They Probably Feel On Edge, Especially If Their Success Depends On Your Contributions. If More Than One Colleague Is Checking Up On You, Questioning Your Judgment Or Skill It May Be A Wake-Up Call.

5. Difficulty Admitting Mistakes. Take Responsibility. Everyone Makes Mistakes. It’s How You Interact With Them That Determines Whether People View You As Trustworthy. Resist Any Temptations To Hide It, Deny It, Play Dumb, Or Blame Someone Else. Apologize With Sincerity. Admit When You Were Wrong As Soon As You Can, Informing Everyone Who May Is Affected. Offered To Help With Workarounds Or Potential Repercussions. Share What You Learned And What Steps You Will Take To Prevent It From Happening Again. 

6. Tempted To Spread Someone Else’s News? Maintain Confidentiality. Some People are viewed Untrustworthy Because They Have Shared Information Intended Confidential. Revisit What Keeping A Confidence Means. Some Guidelines: Ask Upfront, “Is This To Be Confidential?” “Is This Something I Can Share?” Always Keep Personal Information Someone Shares To Yourself. Read And Follow Your Organization’s Guiding Principles On Respect For Him People. If Someone Shares Legal Or Ethical Breaches, Let Them Know You Can’t Promise Confidentiality On Those Topics. 

7. Lacking An Ethical Compass? Take Corrective Actions. People Rarely Start Their Careers Planning To Be Unethical. More Often It Comes About Slowly. Occasionally Taking Home Office Supplies, Fudging Numbers On Expense Report. It Might Spread-Condoning Unfair Treatment Of Employees, Using Lower Quality Standards That Could Jeopardize Product Safety, Keeping Silent About Corruption Or Fraud. These Are Countless Ways To Rationalize Unethical Choices: Everyone Else Is Doing It. Nobody Will Find Out. It’s Not Exactly Illegal. The End Justifies The Means. We Didn’t Have Time To Check. It Won’t Hurt Anybody. 

8. Lack Of Trust Between Groups? Build Cross-Boundary Bridges. Sometimes Trust Is High For People Within A Team Or Department, But Not Between Groups Or Functions. Maybe There’s A Long History Of “Us Versus Them.” Perhaps Something Recent Has Caused Friction. Maybe You Stereotype Each Other. Or Don’t Know Each Other. To Better Coordinate Efforts And Leverage Synergies, Foster Cross-Boundary Trusts. Find Out What’s Causing Any Past Or Current Problems. If Your Team Hasn’t Delivered The Goods, Decide How You Will Fix Things To Build Credibility. 

9. Since Trust May Be Eroding. Pay Attention To Warning Signs. Keep Alert To Signs That Trust May Be Breaking Down Your Department Or Team. Are People Talking About One Another Behind Their Backs? Are They Withholding Information Or Resources? Are They Undermining Each Other To Make Themselves Look Good? Stifling Authentic Feelings About Issues? Do Some Members Cast Blame Or Criticism Unfairly? Do People Feel Compelled To Cover Their Tracks? Do Decisions Get Made During Sidebar Conversations Or In Cliques? Trust Takes A Long Time To Build And Can Deteriorate Rather Quickly. Don’t Just Wait And See What Happens. Directly Confront Warning Signs With The Group.(Top Trust Myths: 1 Of 2: Trust Takes Time | Trusted  (n.d.). Retrieved from https://trustedadvisor.com/trustmatters/top-trust-myths-1-of-2-trust-takes-time)

10. Reluctant To Bring Your Heart To Work? Show Genuine Concern For People’s Needs. Many Think The Workplace Should Be All About Business. That Passion Doesn’t Belong There. A Culture That Displays Care And Concern Is Good For Business-It Strengthens Trust And Collaboration. Showing You Care Goes Beyond Remembering Someone’s Birthday. For A Trust-Based Relationship To Flourish, There Needs To Be Mutual Concern For What Matters To The Other Person. Listen Closely Discover What That Is. Even Five Minutes Of Focus, Quality Time Can Go A Long Way. 

Lastly - Take Time To Reflect

If You Are Concerned That Others, Don’t Have Trust In, You

… Then Find Out Why And Take Clear Action To Turn Things Around. Do The Right Thing-Always! Be Patient. Trust is not automatic; It’s gained through action.

If You Talk A Good Story But Don’t Follow Through

… And Be Aware That People Will Soon Lose Confidence If They Hear The Words But Don’t See The Action. Demonstrate Your Commitment Right Through To The Result.

If You Sense That Gossip Is Running Rampant

… Then Understand That Allowing Negative “Hearsay” Can Lead To A Culture Of Distress. Address Rumors Will With Speed And Honesty. Focus On The Underlying Reasons.