Most people have no clue how to establish trust. Trust is a fickle subject. It can be won or lost in a blink of an eye. To be a great leader, you must work long and hard to develop the characteristics and habits that earn trust, build trust and ultimately maintain that trust over a period of time. There are many theories on how this can be accomplished. However, you must decide for yourself just how you will. Establishing trust in a relationship is critical to success as a leader.
A lot of emphasis has been focused on building a tribe. You must connect with the people who you like or who like you, or those who DO what you do. While this can be an effective MARKETING tool, it is not realistic. You will not have on your team only those who like you or do what you do. A true leader must capture, if not the heart, the mind of the team he or she is working with. Earning that trust entails a critical long term view. Here are the keys to earning the trust of your team.
Earning trust:
- Leadership by Early Communication
- Leadership by Training
- Leadership by Visibility
- Leadership by Example
- Leadership by Good Change Management
- Leadership by Honesty
- Leadership by Creativity
- Leadership by Vision
Now that you have earned the trust of your team, you must build on that base. I wise man once told me that if I wanted to build a massive career, I should start with the largest base. A wise man (Ted Sisk). So, you must build your base as large as possible. To do this you must be recognized as trustworthy. Trustworthiness cannot be a first impression issue. It is earned, built and maintained. Therefore, you must build on that base you began. Here are the characteristics that a trust-worthy leader will possess.
Building Trust:
- Leadership by Open Communication
- Leadership by Full Communication
- Leadership by Encouraging Creativity
- Leadership by Fostering Talent
- Leadership by Allowing Disagreement or Diversity Without Repercussions
- Leadership by Maintaining Integrity
- Leadership by Fairness and Consistency
Building trust is good, maintain trust is better. It means that a leader has integrity and understands how to meld the team together with grace and he/she understands that talent can be raw and must be nurtured. Now, he/she must bridge the gap to create a true bond through long term trust maintenance. He/She must reward behaviors that foster a trsut environment on the team. Here are the characteristics for maintaining trust long term.
Maintaining trust:
- Leadership by Rewarding Value
- Leadership by Grace
- Leadership by Doing What You Say
- Leadership by Rewarding Trust Behavior
- Leadership by Creating Consequences
The ultimate goal is that you can earn, build and maintain the trust of those whom you lead. A leader cannot be myopic, but must have myopic tendencies. They cannot focus so much on a pet project that they lose site of the overall team. Trust in leadership is built by being able to see the whole picture, but by being able to focus on the team you are talking to at the moment. Learning these points will make you a master at establishing a trust relationship. It will also help you respect trust. Also, it will help you trust others.
Start today building trust with those around you. Although this chat focuses on business, the underlying principles can be applied in any leadership position. I trust you will find this helpful in your career, home, church, military or fun time.
Here is a video on trust from University in Los Angeles County.
