Where's your Trust Gap? 5 Ways to Create Trust more effectively as a Leader

Building trust is a critical skill that good leaders need to be able to develop to enable their teams to achieve success, which isn’t always easy during growth or constant change and challenges. But it’s trust that enables teams to build resilience and overcome resistance to change.

Research shows that companies that can build a culture of trust are better at being able to attract and retain top talent and create greater profits. According to Gallup Companies with high levels of trust have 2.5 times higher earnings per share compared to companies with low levels of trust. (Great Place to Work, 2018)

Another survey by Deloitte shows that Teams with high levels of trust are more productive and perform better, with up to 30% higher profitability. (Bersin by Deloitte, 2016)

This correlates to healthier workforces too. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 58% of employees who reported a lack of trust in their workplace also reported symptoms of burnout.

So in the midst of your day-to-day activities, how can you stay on top of your trust-building skills as a leader?  

Here are 5 evidence-based People Skills that can help:

1. Lead by Example

Understand, Demonstrate and Communicate the behaviours and values you expect from your team by acting with integrity, transparency, and honesty.

Simple things like leading from an intention of supporting others and being open to their points of view in order to find a win-win can go a long way.

Leading by example becomes easier when expectations can be mutually agreed upon through agreements and processes to achieve metrics that are important for the job role and the business. Particularly for organisations that have transitioned to hybrid working.

2. Communicate openly and effectively

Communication is not just what is said. Communication is what is understood. And a lack of it can cause anxiety and misunderstanding. Foster open communication by regularly providing updates, asking for feedback, and being responsive to your team's needs and concerns. Listening is a critical skill for building empathy, understanding and effectively managing feedback.

3. Enable your team to make decisions

Building trust enables more ethical decision-making. Provide your team members with the resources, support, and autonomy they need to succeed and trust them to make decisions.

No one is perfect so learning to create a psychologically safe space to learn and fail, for collaboration and growth will further empower all team members and facilitate collective ways to learn and inspire each other.

4. Recognize and reward good performance

Regularly acknowledge and reward your team members for their hard work and contributions, and celebrate their successes as a team. Remember different things motivate different people so create a habit of building rapport and mutual respect.

5. Provide opportunities for growth and development

Research by Harvard shows that 85% of career success comes from having well-developed soft skills and people skills. Show your people that you value their growth and development, not just for the hard skills but for their people skills which will not only help them build their trust in you as a leader but enable them to improve their own skills and actions in the workplace. Again in a hybrid working world where face-to-face social workplace interaction may have dipped, facilitating learning opportunities and collaboration can strengthen trust building amongst teams.

Improving trust can go a long way in helping to build healthier organisations from a culture and profits perspective. However even once effective processes are in place, it’s how effective leaders can communicate that will determine the impact and ability of the performance of their teams.  

Coaching Question for Reflection

Out of the 5 points listed above, what's the single biggest change that could help support you or your teams:

* Performance?

* Skills?

* Wellbeing?