Employees seek organizations where they will be acknowledged, supported, and respected regardless of their personal choices, characteristics, or beliefs. But does this mean that, as a leader, you must heed and adapt to all the varying expectations, possibly compromising your authority? Creating a diverse culture in your organization is crucial to being relevant in today’s world, but how do you go about it?

Building trust in a diverse workplace is the first step toward creating a united and synergistic team. Set the standard by keeping communication lines open, encouraging employee engagement, and being an approachable, practical leader. Express that you always have the best intentions for your team.

Read on to find out how you can foster trust in a diverse team where confusion, misunderstandings, and feelings of discrimination may always threaten the team’s synergy, efficiency, and productivity. We will talk about the value of transparency, openness, and integrity as a leader and how these values can quickly reflect how your team members interact with you and one another.

How Do You Build Trust in a Diverse Workplace?

In a diverse workplace, equal opportunities and rights are given to all team members regardless of race, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, or physical abilities. In today’s highly interconnected world, this is an excellent concept to adapt in the workplace because it allows you to take advantage of the varying skill sets, backgrounds, and experiences various individuals bring with them to the table. 

Collaboration and trust may take a backseat in such a workplace environment, considering the distinctiveness of your team members. A diverse population in the workplace might push them to become more independent of each other, and they might prefer to work autonomously.

Not cultivating an open, trusting environment in a diverse workplace can create a hostile environment and culture. Your team members may eventually find it undesirable to work in your team because it’s uncomfortable, stressful, and perhaps even cruel. You may soon note these changes in the workplace:

• You’re no longer attracting high-quality workers to your team.
• Team efficiency and productivity take a dip.
• Employees are not aligned with the team’s values and goals.
• The atmosphere in the workplace is stiff and uninviting.

Is Trust Essential in a Diverse Workplace?

Fostering trust in a diverse workplace is crucial because it helps build a positive, collaborative culture in which driven individuals are motivated to strive for excellence. Your company will benefit in the long run with enhanced productivity, better team engagement, and higher revenues.

Here are some of the top reasons why it’s essential to foster a high-trust work environment:

• Boosts employee retention and loyalty to the team. 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® noted just a 10% employee voluntary turnover rate (employees who voluntarily quit their jobs) — a 50% lower turnover rate than other companies within the same industries.
• Boosts company profitability. High-trust companies are 2 ½ times more likely to enjoy higher revenue growth and profits than those that don’t cultivate trust in the workplace. 
• Enhances teamwork, engagement, and innovation. Disengagement at work costs US companies $450 billion – $550 billion yearly. To be fully engaged, employees must feel safe about being open and vulnerable to the team. 
• Enhances decision-making processes. Team members are empowered to make intelligent decisions because leaders believe they can help steer the team in the right direction. Their unique backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences will give a broader range of viewpoints on various topics. 

At Sancus Leadership, we promote cultivating core values, including trust, in the workplace to make it more conducive for working efficiently and synergistically in a team. Diversity and inclusivity can give you significant leverage in your industry, so book a free leadership call with us when you’re ready to take your team a step further toward success. 

Here are some tips on how you can build trust in your diverse team:

1. Open the Lines of Communication

Honesty, openness, and transparency must be at your team’s core to foster trust in the workplace. As a leader, a culture of open communication starts with you, so ensure your team members know they’re in good hands with you. 

Keep these pointers in mind:

• Set your expectations so the employees understand their roles and how they fit in the bigger picture. 
• Be honest with your team, whether you’re sharing good or bad news.
• Encourage accountability by owning up to your mistakes and shortcomings. 
• Give regular feedback to your team so they stay informed and connected. 

2. Encourage Your Employees To Speak Up

Strengthen employee-employer partnership by allowing them to have a decisive share of voice in the team. In a survey, 63% of employees think their employers exercise excessive power over their lives, while only 58% believe they possess authority over their careers. 

Employees appreciate a more proper power balance in the employee-employer relationship. It would be best if you allowed your team members to share their insights on critical business issues, participate in crucial decision-making processes, and brainstorm with you when creating concepts or drafting plans concerning the team. 

Respect your team’s varying views on various topics. Avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions based on gender or cultural stereotypes. Remember, acknowledging their insights doesn’t mean you go out of your way to accommodate each person’s expectations. As a leader, you must show that you consider each person’s contributions to help you do what’s right and best for the team. 

Make your team realize and understand that you fully support positive diversity because you acknowledge that this is highly advantageous for the business. You appreciate and consider your team members’ varying opinions, insights, skills, backgrounds, and experiences because all these contribute toward making your business more distinctive, responsive, versatile, and comprehensive. 

3. Adopt an Authentic and Flexible Leadership Style

Successfully leading a diverse team requires gaining your team members’ confidence. It indicates how well your team can function synergistically under your guidance. Trust is necessary for your team members to see you in a positive light, and it will be much more challenging for you to exert your rights and authority as a leader.

Positive relationships, good judgment, and consistency are 3 of the main factors that drive trust. Show your team you’re worthy of their faith by always leading with integrity. Ensure you consistently practice what you preach, follow through on your commitments, and be a great role model for your team. 

Your leadership style must reflect your eagerness to form synergistic partnerships with your team and your commitment to helping them achieve their full potential. 

4. Foster Benevolence in Your Team

Benevolence is the quality of being kind and well-intentioned. It will cultivate a culture within your diverse team where everyone thinks and acts in the organization’s best interests. When this is achieved, trust becomes a core value in the group and will enable everyone to collaborate and work together toward the business’ growth and success despite their differences. 

When your team sees that you always have their best interest at heart, it will make them feel safe to be vulnerable with you. Confusions and misunderstandings will be quickly sorted out before they become issues in the team. Your team members will be empowered to take calculated risks, go the extra mile for the business, and not feel imperiled whenever they exert a bit of independence and innovation. 

A friend shared how a colleague of hers, Josie, had a rough start a few years back when she joined an investment firm as a fledgling, short on experience but undoubtedly eager to build her credentials in this new field. Josie joined a team of experienced financial advisors headed by a leader known in the organization for being particularly adept in the ins and outs of investments, thus having an enviable client portfolio to show for it.

Josie soon found the leader quite dominating and aggressive, and she wasn’t comfortable at all about voicing her concerns and uncertainties, even merely asking for clarifications on essential matters. To make matters worse, the leader seemed to place a higher premium on commissions earned rather than helping clients manage their finances better. Josie found this extraordinarily upsetting and completely misaligned with her values. 

Josie left the team and searched for greener pastures, somewhere she’d be appropriately guided by a firm yet supportive and ethical leader. She’s much happier now where she is and is thriving as one of the significant contributors to her team.

In this talk below, Simon Sinek discusses how important it is to build a trusting working environment so people can work at their natural best.

Final Thoughts

Working in a diverse workplace can be invigorating, challenging, and rewarding, but this will only be possible if trust is at the group’s center. Faith is necessary for diversity to be a menacing, confusing, and exhausting factor to battle daily. A team that isn’t united, synergistic, and harmonious will not be as efficient and productive as possible. 

Leading and managing a diverse team can be challenging, but a positive mindset will make this endeavor extremely rewarding. You must be as transparent as possible, promote engagement, and exhibit high levels of integrity in your leadership style.

Do you rush headlong into projects, especially if it’s about something that excites you and you are eager to take the first steps toward delivering excellent results? Do you think that promptly making progress is a mark of outstanding leadership? Remember, recklessly rushing into projects without laying the groundwork can lead to many problems with team dynamics and work quality.

Building trust with your team before starting a project is essential since it paves the way for enhanced motivation, more vital teamwork, and high productivity. It also helps avoid issues, such as false speculations and masking weaknesses. Trust is essential in assisting teams to function efficiently. 

This article discusses why fostering trust is crucial before starting a team project and the possible repercussions if faith isn’t fully established within the team. We will also discuss the benefits of having trust as a team’s foundation and how it can make a significant difference in how you function as a leader and how your employees interact with you and one another. Let’s start!

Is Trust Necessary for a Team To Be Productive?

“The secret of making progress is to get started.” — Mark Twain

This quote by the famous American author is a great mantra to adopt because it implies efficiency, initiative, and productivity. Some leaders take this to heart and get off to a running start, thinking that progress — and a quick one — is an excellent indication that their team is at the top of their game.

Be that as it may, there is also danger in starting projects way before you and your team are primed and well-equipped. Often, energy, resources, and effort may go to waste when a team must prepare to carry projects through successfully. 

Some leaders think trust is earned over time, so they assume it will naturally develop and blossom within the team as they spend more time with each other. They don’t think time expenditures fostering trust are worthwhile and necessary. This notion may not be entirely wrong, but it threatens a team’s stability and productivity.

What Can Happen When Trust Isn’t There?

Trust is the foundation with which positive, strong relationships are built. When you trust someone, you imply that they’re honest, reliable, effective, loyal, and skilled, and you feel safe around them. 

When trust isn’t established before starting your project, you and your team members may struggle to collaborate efficiently. Team members may unnecessarily waste precious energy trying to protect their interests. You may work to lead your team because you spend too much time convincing them you’re reliable and proficient.

Here are some other possible scenarios when a team lacks trust before the start of a project:

• You’re inclined to micromanage your team, leading to strained relationships and employee demotivation. 
• Relevant information won’t be openly shared because everyone seems on edge and suspicious of everyone else’s true intentions. 
• Accepting and implementing new ideas will be a struggle since everyone hesitates to take other people’s suggestions. 
• Team members will feel hesitant about making their weaknesses known, a detrimental action that may cause irreversible damage to the proper completion of the project.

Why Trust Matters at the Onset 

In the workplace, fostering trust within a team gives rise to open and honest communication, better collaboration, job satisfaction, and higher productivity. It helps fuel tasks and projects to be accomplished promptly and efficiently.

Furthermore, trust among team members builds loyalty and commitment to the team. It allows people to interact and work harmoniously with each other, thereby encouraging the development of high-performance teams. 

How To Build Team Trust Before Starting a Project

It’s crucial to get off on the right foot regarding project management. At Sancus Leadership, we value forging unbreakable trust because it enhances motivation, collaboration, and productivity. When you’re ready to make your team more synergistic and efficient, book a call with us, and let’s make you the trusted leader your career needs!

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Set Clear Expectations

It’s essential to ensure that you and your team members are all on the same page, especially before starting your work on a project. This is the best time to inform them about what needs to be done, why it must be carried through, how to do it, and when it needs to be accomplished. 

2. Keep Everyone in the Loop

Encourage transparency in your team by providing them with updates and feedback on even the most minute tasks related to the project. For instance, let them know that approval has been secured for a task force to be formed that deals with client relations or that the company will purchase new laptops specifically for the project at hand. 

Your team will appreciate that you share relevant information with them. This will make them feel “included” and help quickly establish a strong sense of unity and camaraderie within the team. 

You can do this through various creative ways, such as:

• Posting updates on a whiteboard or corkboard situated in a common area in the workplace
• Setting up an online group and posting updates there (you can use chat apps like Slack, Telegram, Google Chat, or Troop Messenger)
• Calling for weekly short meetings

3. Be Predictable and Dependable

Make sure to deliver on your promises. If the winds have changed and your original plan is no longer feasible, clearly explain to your team why you’re abandoning the project in favor of a better one. 

Also, lead by example. As a leader, your team sees you as worthy of following. Don’t let them down. Ensure you always display the specific virtues and values you expect from everyone else. Be the first to showcase trustworthiness, and you can be sure your team members will follow your lead.

4. Ask for Team Feedback

Show that you value your team members by asking for their reactions, assessing, and critiquing your plans. After all, they’re directly involved in the project, so their feedback will be invaluable for its success. 

This is also a great way to boost your team’s morale by showing them you value their thoughts, opinions, and feelings. This will allow you to get the team’s pulse on the project — how they feel about it, what its relevance is to them, and whether or not they feel motivated about it. Gathering feedback will allow you to correct possible misconceptions your team members may harbor.  

5. Recognize Your Team’s Autonomy

Encourage team autonomy by allowing them to make confident decisions on their own. Listen to their proposals and will enable them to implement these on their terms. Doing so gives your team the impression that you trust them and are confident in their skills. 

You can also delegate tasks by taking into account each member’s strengths. Then, allow them to execute tasks with minimal interference from you. Employees who feel their leaders trust them are keen on never tarnishing the confidence and faith bestowed on them.

Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due. Recognize employees who have shared valuable proposals and ideas. As a leader, never take credit for any hard work or a brilliant idea that any team member has shared. 

Here’s a talk with Simon Sinek explaining why building trust in a team first is important and a must.

Final Thoughts

Trust is essential in a high-functioning, collaborative team. When a project is at hand, it’s crucial to establish trust to ensure that you and your employees operate like a well-oiled machine. Without it, the team could quickly fall apart.

Foster trust before starting your project by spearheading the formation of an ethical, transparent work culture. Your team should know about the project’s whats, whys, hows, and whens, and they must be kept updated on any progress or changes. As a leader, walk the talk and show your team exactly what being trustworthy is all about. 

Gone are the days when leadership connotes authoritarianism — where team members are expected to fully submit to the authority of their leader, no questions asked. These days, trust has become such a crucial aspect of leadership that many leaders inadvertently afford their team members too much freedom and autonomy. When a leader is to trusting, the danger is that they may be labeled vulnerable, impressionable, and easy to fool.

Being too trusting is a weakness of leaders since it can leave you vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation. It can also make some employees from both ends of the pole feel isolated, with some feeling obliged to overwork while others feel unseen. It can also make you lose control of your team. 

Find out more about why you should moderate trust and the possible repercussions if you don’t. We will also talk about some possible reasons why you trust others so quickly and what you can do to ensure that you utilize the right level of trust in effectively managing your team. Let’s start!

What Can Happen When a Leader Is Too Trusting?

If you don’t trust your team enough, you’ll be labeled a cynical and controlling leader, prone to spying on your team, accusing them of suspicious behavior, or doubting their skills and intentions. That’s why great leaders emphasize the value of trust since this gives the team a sense of safety in taking risks and working harmoniously with each other. 

It is common knowledge that trust offers many benefits, and that’s why many leaders prioritize forging trust within their teams. They allow their employees the freedom to make decisions and choose which strategy to employ and which tasks to undertake, all to promote a strong level of trust within the group.

When there is trust, you can look forward to the following:

• Open, honest communications
• Culture of transparency
• Fewer conflicts
• Excellent teamwork
• Improved innovation and creativity
• High engagement
• High job satisfaction
• Enhanced productivity
• High employee retention rate

Leaders who bank on trust hope this will give rise to driven, independent employees with a strong sense of ownership.

Repercussions of Absolute Trust Within the Team

However, being too trusting is also a flaw in leadership. Your generosity might be misconstrued as a weakness, and some team members might exploit your vulnerability.

Here’s what can happen when a leader is too trusting:

1. You Become Vulnerable to Manipulation

Please don’t assume that all your team members are worthy of the trust you bestow. You will undoubtedly encounter unscrupulous individuals who will take advantage of your trust to manipulate and exploit you. 

Please don’t assume that all your team members are worthy of the trust you bestow.

These individuals will attempt to swing scenarios to their favor so they always appear more efficient, professional, and productive than they are. They might also try to exploit you by maneuvering situations so they take credit for work they have yet to carry out.

2. You Lose Control of Your Team 

Some leaders who promote trust show it by minimizing proper supervision of their employees. Remember, self-monitoring isn’t always reliable, and you cannot expect each team member to readily and effectively coordinate and collaborate with everyone else. 

3. It May Lead to Exclusion 

I firmly believe everyone is allowed to have favorites, but we mustn’t make this too apparent as a leader. When a leader has undisguised choices in the team, the favored, a trusted employee might feel obliged to repay your kindness by taking on more work than they’re comfortable with, never complaining about anything, and always agreeing to whatever you say. This may lead to employee burnout, poor job satisfaction, and high employee turnover.

Overt favoritism on who to bestow your trust on may make others feel shut out and rejected. The apparent unfair treatment will undoubtedly backfire, leading to low employee engagement, poor collaboration, and increased employee turnover. 

What Causes Someone to Be Overly Trusting?

Being overly trusting usually stems from deep personal issues that prompt a person to bestow trust on others either consciously or unintentionally. Sometimes, trust is a decision you make, while other times, it’s a subconscious reaction to certain situations.

Here are some reasons why some people are overly trusting:

What Is an Example of Being Too Trusting?

A friend once told me about Jon, a leader who utilized self-monitoring and team initiative in his leadership style. All was going well until a new member joined the team. The team’s system took aback this person. Still, he instantly acknowledged how much more he preferred it over the traditional, autocratic leadership style he had grown accustomed to in his previous company. 

A project was in the works, the completion of which would secure the team a long-term contract with an extensive client. The leader delegated tasks and entrusted everything to his team, telling them he couldn’t wait for the finished product.

On the morning of the presentation, the leader was shocked to discover that the project wasn’t fully completed. The new member could not do his part, causing considerable lapses in the system. The rest of the team didn’t know how to deal with him, which also caused rifts in their otherwise solid relationship.

My friend told me how the leader frantically sought ways to salvage the situation. He tried rescheduling with the client, accomplishing some tasks himself, and even firing the new member for insubordination and failure to deliver commitments.

The leader saved the day, thanks to the client’s willingness to accommodate his request. Still, he undoubtedly learned a big lesson about trust that day — to moderate and only bestow it where it is appropriate, earned, and valued. 

Why Should You Moderate Trust?

When you’re sitting in your car at an intersection, and the light finally turns green, you step on the gas to cross the junction. You trust that the other drivers will stop to let your car through because their light has turned red.

However, if you’re a brilliant driver, you’ll still be cautious as you move along, always alert for errant drivers. You’re ready to take the brakes at the first sign of danger.

This is an excellent example of why you should moderate trust as a leader. You cautiously and efficiently move toward your goals, trusting that your team is with you. You allow them to do things their way but with your supervision. 

However, you’re also conscious of the possibility of errant members in your team. You’re always ready to nip bad behavior in the bud before it escalates to a point where the situation becomes unsalvageable.

Take a look at some of the benefits of moderating trust in your team:

• Better team collaboration
• Higher employee morale
• Boosted creativity
• Increased team efficiency and productivity
• Engaging team culture
• Higher employee retention rate
• Enhanced risk-taking aptitude
• An elevated sense of accountability
• High levels of commitment

As a leader with over twelve years of experience in the army, I see a connection between trust and oversight; if you trust someone, you want them to check on your work; they do it out of care, not distrust. Build a culture where you both trust and check on people!

How To Arrive at the Right Level of Trust

A strong level of trust between leaders and employees is a team strength, signaling high motivation, engagement, and productivity. However, too much confidence going around becomes a weakness, especially when it becomes a tool for people to take advantage of situations for their good.

When it comes to fostering trust within your team, it’s crucial to find the perfect balance. Here are some tips:

1. Assert the Need To Earn Your Trust

Trust isn’t something that should be automatically and recklessly doled out to every person in the room — it must be earned. Let people merit your confidence over time. Before bestowing trust, make sure the person deserves it. In the meantime, adopt a healthy level of skepticism so you have boundaries to lean on in case things don’t go as planned. 

2. Utilize Monitoring Tools

Fostering trust (or forging unbreakable trust, as we prefer at Sancus Leadership) within your team doesn’t mean you throw caution to the wind and forgo your authority to keep track of your team members and monitor their progress. This is a dangerous predicament to put yourself in because you need to monitor and ensure that progress is being made to lead your team toward set goals successfully. 

Here are some business monitoring tool options:

• IBM MQ
• Monday.com
• ClickUp
• Oracle BAM
• Avora

3. Trust Your Gut

Don’t ignore any warning signs. When you feel that something isn’t right, follow your instincts and do some sleuthing to determine whether your feelings are accurate or completely ill-founded. Never make excuses for others, and don’t attempt to justify misbehavior or faults. 

Recognize when trust has been broken and promptly address the situation. Never let things slide. Remember, only some are worthy of your faith.

4. Collaborate with a Business Coach

A business coach can help you achieve the perfect level of trust to ensure your team functions seamlessly, collaboratively, and efficiently toward shared goals. They can offer tips and guidance on utilizing trust as a handy tool to ensure that tasks are accomplished, and the business progressively moves forward.

At Sancus Leadership, we can help you pinpoint areas to improve and establish a healthy, productive level of trust within your team. Call us now to find out how we can help you!

In this talk, Anne explains the psychology of trust and describes its importance in building relationships and when to decide whether or not to trust somebody.

Final Thoughts

Trust should consistently be earned. You shouldn’t dole it out to any individual, especially if you have no clear grasp of their true character yet. As a leader, it’s your job to ensure that trust will never be utilized to gain unfair advantages in the team. 

Being too trusting is a weakness because it can leave you vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation. It can also lead to some employees feeling overly stressed due to your high expectations of them while leaving others feeling completely unseen.

The key is to moderate trust. Know to whom it should be bestowed, when it should be given, and how to ensure you’ll still be on top of the situation.