Trustworthy Leadership: Inspiring Confidence and Decision Making
Want to increase your team’s productivity, job satisfaction, drive, collaboration, communication, and so much more?
The common denominator that guides a team towards operating at its highest potential is trust.
Establishing trust is important between leaders and employees, but also amongst peers and team members. Unfortunately, trust has become harder to come by, both in and out of the workplace – with the government and media playing a large part in this decline.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to create an environment in your company where building trust is a top priority, so everyone can work together towards common goals, feel heard and understood, and share ideas without fear of judgment.
Let’s explore what a trust-based work environment looks like, and how you can nurture a foundation of confidence and connection for everyone.
3 types of trust and how they lead to company growth
Before we dive deeper into improving trust within your team, take a peek at what you’re working towards. There are 3 different types of trust, all of which offer major benefits to every individual, as well as the company as a whole.
When employees trust leaders:
Everyone believes in a shared vision for the future, and feels inspired to work towards it.
Employees put their best thinking, efforts, and skills forward.
Productivity increases, and there’s no forcing or convincing needed from leaders.
Being able to trust leaders is especially important during times of change, which every growing business will face. If trust is established first, transformations happen much more smoothly, and with less resistance.
When team members trust each other:
Employee satisfaction improves because of better team dynamics.
Conflicts are worked through quickly, leading to development and growth for the team.
Collaboration improves.
Everyone enjoys a more positive culture and atmosphere – less toxicity and more cohesion.
Team members will look to the leader as an example, but a good leader allows employees to look to each other as well – creating an environment where trust can be built from peer to peer.
When leaders trust their team:
Delegation is possible – lessening stress and work by sharing the load.
Leaders can feel less burnout and more work-life balance.
Communication is clear and open, allowing efficient results and fast action.
Of course, at the pinnacle of a trust-based work environment, everyone must also trust themselves. A leader who is confident in their goals, vision, and skills sets a chain-reaction that trickles down for employees to also believe in and trust themselves.
Tips for cultivating trust in the workplace
Ready to start working towards each of these benefits in your own work environment? Building trust takes time, but even small actions can lead to big results with consistent, focused efforts on your part.
Tip #1: Get to know each member of your team and inspire connection
Encourage team members to get to know each other, while you also get to know each person individually. It’s important to communicate and collaborate effectively, but also making time to talk about life outside of work can lead to a higher quality of employee satisfaction.
Tip #2: Create an atmosphere of respect, inclusion, and psychological safety
Sometimes we forget that the workplace is made up of humans – imperfect, unique, interesting humans with all different personalities, preferences, and backgrounds.
Every single person should feel safe, valued, and seen in the workplace. This means acknowledging and adjusting your own unconscious biases, while encouraging team members to do the same.
Tip #3: Promote healthy conflict resolution
Disagreements will undoubtedly arise in the workplace. That’s why it’s best to establish rules of fair fighting, so that all team members can learn to resolve conflicts through healthy communication – always from a place of mutual respect.
When handled correctly, arguments can actually strengthen a team and lead to company growth, because it allows differing opinions, ideas, and viewpoints to be discussed. Trust is built when everyone knows their voice matters and is valued, even when it goes against the grain sometimes.
Tip #4: Trust starts at the top, so be the example for your team
Not only is it the leader’s job to demonstrate what a trusting relationship looks like at work, the leader must also earn every bit of trust they’re asking for.
Here are some ways you can earn trust and respect, while being the example your team looks to as a guide:
Be vulnerable and transparent,
keep your word,
always follow through,
show empathy,
listen without judgment,
project confidence but also ask for help when needed.,
admit when you have made a mistake and be collaborative in resolving it.,
be generous and specific with your praise and gratitude.
What are some creative ways you’ve found to inspire trust and connection within your organization?
Dawn Garibaldi is the CEO and Founder of Amplify Strategy Group. As an experienced corporate leader and certified executive coach, she’s on a mission to serve leaders to create significant impact, confident performance and powerful relationships -- with stakeholders, teams and peers. She shares powerful strategies and tactics to quickly amplify confidence, success and achievements far beyond what they thought possible.