My team didn’t trust me.  It was my first leadership role outside the Army.  I had been in charge of this team of 10 sales representatives for almost 6 months.

I believed I was trustworthy, but the truth was a hard pill to swallow.  I thought just being a good guy would make my people believe that I was trustworthy. But, for some people and for some teams, trust does not come that easily.

As a leader I learned how important it was to build trust.  I needed to be intentional and have a plan. 

Does my team trust me?

Does my team trust me?

My plan has evolved through the years.  It’s not complicated, but it takes focused effort.  However, it builds trust with teams and individuals as well.

5 Ways Leaders Build Trust

1.  Be Trusting

“You don’t have to earn my trust.  I am giving it to you freely.  And I will continue to trust you – right up to the moment you prove untrustworthy.”

Every person who has worked for me in the last decade has heard me say this. I realized that most people are not used to being trusted.  Most teams have a culture where people feel like they must earn the trust of the leader.

Some leaders even tell people they must earn their trust.  No wonder 70% of workers claim they are not engaged at work!   Who would enjoy working in an environment where trust must be earned?

Trust first! When people are trusted, they tend to want to earn what you have already given them.

Have I been burned by people since I adopted this?  Yes.  Perhaps 10% of those people proved untrustworthy and proved me wrong.

But that also means that 90% of the people proved me right!  I like being right 90% of the time! 

2.  Be Consistent

Some people are bi-polar and some people just act that way.  If I am a leader and my people don’t know what version of me they will encounter each day, then they will not trust me.

A mercurial individual is hard to trust.  A leader who allows his mood to fluctuate with the latest sales numbers or trends is hard to trust as well.

My team had good sales months and bad sales months.  If my mood were dictated by those short term results, I’d act bi-polar as well!

However, if I was confident in our strategy and the people I had working for me, my job was to be consistent and lead well through both the good months and the bad months.

3.  Be Fair

Being fair is not the same as being equal.  You don’t have to think to treat everyone equally.  A leader who treats everyone equally is punting on her responsibility to think. 

If someone is late turning in a report, an employee with a long track record of on time and productive performance should not be treated the same way as someone who was hired in the last 6 months.  That would not be fair, but it would be equal.

Pet Peeve Alert:  Policies are set up to work the majority of the time.  The really good ones work 80-90% of the time.  That means they don’t work 10-20% of the time.  That is when a leader steps in and thinks.  That is when a leader leads. Claiming “It’s policy” is a cop out for a leader.  Follow the policy or don’t (if it is the right thing to do.) But whatever you choose, OWN YOUR DECISION!

4.  Be Listening

“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

One of the best ways I can let someone know I care about him is to listen to him.  This goes beyond nodding my head and preparing my counter argument.  I need to be actively listening until I have verified with him that I understand his point.

Most people don’t need to get their way all the time.  Most people just want to know their way was heard and considered.

In any relationship, I need to ask myself, “If I don’t feel like this person listens to me, do I trust him?”  Of course I don’t!

That is why leaders must be listening in order to build trust.

5.  Be Accountable

“No excuse, sir!”

This is one of the four approved responses for West Point freshman when questioned by an upper classman.  I discussed this in detail in West Point:  How Leaders Seize Responsibility.

As a leader I should not make excuses.  I am accountable for everything that happens on my team.  As an individual, I need to eliminate excuses from my repertoire as well.

Excuses are another way of shifting blame.  When I eliminate excuses, I know that failure is my fault.  Therefore, I tend to work harder to find solutions.  I cannot use an excuse as a parachute.

When I eliminate excuses, people know I will own mistakes and not waste time minimizing them.  When I eliminate excuses, it also allows us to get to problem solving a lot quicker.

Again ask yourself, “How much do I trust people who are consistently making excuses?” 

Making excuses is bad for an individual and deadly for a leader who wants to build trust.

The Bottom Line:

Be Trusting:  A leader who demands that people earn his trust will probably never be trusted and will likely preside over an unhealthy work environment.

Be Consistent:  A leader who is unpredictable will create a team where open communication is limited by his perceived mood.

Be Fair:  A leader who treats everyone equally, without thinking, will damage trust with top performers and unjustly reward low performers.

Be Listening:  A leader who speaks more than she listens will have a team that does not feel heard and will likely stop communicating and trusting.

Be Accountable:  A leader who makes excuses and allows excuses will spend more time tracking down blame than solving problems.

Trust is the bedrock that all relationships must be built upon.  Without trust no relationship can be healthy.  To build trust I discovered I needed to be intentional and have a plan.  This plan is simple, but it not easy to implement.  It takes effort to build trust.

Here are two great books on the subject of trust that will take you deeper:

Question:

What are some of the best ways leaders have built trust with you?