4 Musts to Build Trust As A Leader
As business leaders and owners we can get caught up in the day-to-day business performance and output.
It is a consent balance with market shifts, client care and managing the day-to-day operations of the business.
These are all necessary aspects of business life.
The key to growing a business successfully is to continually lay a strong foundation while you keep stretching the business into new segments of your market.
This growth requires a strong team of loyal and focused people who understand the vision and direction of the business.
As the business leader your perspective and trust building skills will be the catalyst to maximizing your team's performance.
It is said that leaders leave footprints for others to follow.
When it comes to team trust building this belief has never been truer.
How a leader conducts themselves with their business teams sets the pace for performance within the team.
So how can you as a leader ensure that you are setting the correct expectation and conduct for your team? Here are 4 ways to increase the level of trust your team has in you, and in turn the level of trust your team will have with each other.
1.
Always follow through with what you say.
To many times we get busy with what is happening in our business and forget to follow-up on our promises.
Our teams listen and hear everything we say and take it as an absolute.
As leaders we must be conscious of what message we give to our teams and have integrity to follow through with what we say.
Your people will lose confidence in you as a leader if they cannot count on the fact that what you say is consistent with your actions.
2.
Be open with your teams and expect openness from the team.
Being open with your team doesn't mean you need to share every business secret.
In all honesty sharing too much about the business can cause insecurity in your team and lower the team's performance.
Being open refers to sharing your vision for the business with your team members.
Being open about the challenges the business may face and hearing out the team and their concerns.
As a business leader your reality is your team's perspective.
You must be able to lay all beliefs on the table and discuss them openly.
No concern or question is unimportant to your business.
3.
Clearly state your decisions and stand by them.
In the end as the business leader you will have to make decisions that may not be popular with your team.
The important thing to remember is to be open with your team and let them know how your decision leads the business closer to its goals.
Always triangulate your decisions to the ultimate vision and be clear on your intent to realize move the business in this direction.
Even when decisions are not popular you will build massive trust and respect by having the personal strength to keep moving towards the goal.
4.
Focus on your personal development along with you team.
Often it is simpler to look at others as lacking ability or skill and claim that they are the barrier to advancement.
In reality more often it is something we lack as leaders and we do not see it.
This is where the openness with your team will be invaluable.
Even as business leaders we will come to challenges in our businesses that we lack the experience, ability or skill, to move through it in an effective manner.
By having an interdependent collaborative team you can better plan the development of yourself and team with the business vision in mind.
As challenges arise you can look at yourself and your team to diagnose who will be best to tackle the challenge and what skills you and your team will need to keep the business moving forward.
Like any successful business initiative building higher levels of trust with your team requires a clear vision and a willingness to achieve the goal.
Your personal vision for who you are and who you will be must be clear to you.
A Leader must look to the performance of their team as a measure of their performance as a leader.
These indicators are sometimes subtle, and given that we are prone to our owe bias can be missed.
What we always are in charge of is the actions we take as leaders and the standard of conduct we hold ourselves to.
By building a high level of trust as a leader you will have a team that can watch your blind spots and give you feedback to ensure you stay on the right track.
It is often hard to hear this type of feedback but in the end this will lead you and your business to the success you desire.
It is a consent balance with market shifts, client care and managing the day-to-day operations of the business.
These are all necessary aspects of business life.
The key to growing a business successfully is to continually lay a strong foundation while you keep stretching the business into new segments of your market.
This growth requires a strong team of loyal and focused people who understand the vision and direction of the business.
As the business leader your perspective and trust building skills will be the catalyst to maximizing your team's performance.
It is said that leaders leave footprints for others to follow.
When it comes to team trust building this belief has never been truer.
How a leader conducts themselves with their business teams sets the pace for performance within the team.
So how can you as a leader ensure that you are setting the correct expectation and conduct for your team? Here are 4 ways to increase the level of trust your team has in you, and in turn the level of trust your team will have with each other.
1.
Always follow through with what you say.
To many times we get busy with what is happening in our business and forget to follow-up on our promises.
Our teams listen and hear everything we say and take it as an absolute.
As leaders we must be conscious of what message we give to our teams and have integrity to follow through with what we say.
Your people will lose confidence in you as a leader if they cannot count on the fact that what you say is consistent with your actions.
2.
Be open with your teams and expect openness from the team.
Being open with your team doesn't mean you need to share every business secret.
In all honesty sharing too much about the business can cause insecurity in your team and lower the team's performance.
Being open refers to sharing your vision for the business with your team members.
Being open about the challenges the business may face and hearing out the team and their concerns.
As a business leader your reality is your team's perspective.
You must be able to lay all beliefs on the table and discuss them openly.
No concern or question is unimportant to your business.
3.
Clearly state your decisions and stand by them.
In the end as the business leader you will have to make decisions that may not be popular with your team.
The important thing to remember is to be open with your team and let them know how your decision leads the business closer to its goals.
Always triangulate your decisions to the ultimate vision and be clear on your intent to realize move the business in this direction.
Even when decisions are not popular you will build massive trust and respect by having the personal strength to keep moving towards the goal.
4.
Focus on your personal development along with you team.
Often it is simpler to look at others as lacking ability or skill and claim that they are the barrier to advancement.
In reality more often it is something we lack as leaders and we do not see it.
This is where the openness with your team will be invaluable.
Even as business leaders we will come to challenges in our businesses that we lack the experience, ability or skill, to move through it in an effective manner.
By having an interdependent collaborative team you can better plan the development of yourself and team with the business vision in mind.
As challenges arise you can look at yourself and your team to diagnose who will be best to tackle the challenge and what skills you and your team will need to keep the business moving forward.
Like any successful business initiative building higher levels of trust with your team requires a clear vision and a willingness to achieve the goal.
Your personal vision for who you are and who you will be must be clear to you.
A Leader must look to the performance of their team as a measure of their performance as a leader.
These indicators are sometimes subtle, and given that we are prone to our owe bias can be missed.
What we always are in charge of is the actions we take as leaders and the standard of conduct we hold ourselves to.
By building a high level of trust as a leader you will have a team that can watch your blind spots and give you feedback to ensure you stay on the right track.
It is often hard to hear this type of feedback but in the end this will lead you and your business to the success you desire.
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