Most people have strong feelings about trust, and if you’re one of those who have been burned by it and find it extremely tricky to navigate, you’re not alone. A lot of people, including me, know what it feels like when trust is broken and you end up feeling betrayed and abused. That’s why trust has become a precious commodity that people fiercely safeguard and prudently bestow.
Trust is something built over time, never given for free. However, note that no matter how hard you work at building and earning it, if the other person doesn’t see you as worthy, trust will never be granted. The truth is, trust can only be given after you’ve earned and built it over time.
Let’s delve deeper into why trust should always be built, earned, and worked hard for before you can expect anyone to grant it to you. We will also discuss why consistency is imperative in a high-trust work environment and what you can do to ensure your team doesn’t lose their trust in you. Remember, it’s often harder to regain trust than build it.
The Biggest Mix-Up About Trust
Trust is a strong belief in the other person’s character and abilities. It’s when you place your complete confidence in the accuracy of a statement, belief, or situation such that you confidently expect everything will pan out as anticipated.
In any situation, the trust-giver is in control of who they grant their trust to. It can never be forced or demanded from them.
Most people think trust is something built and earned over time, but this argument is flawed because the truth of the matter is, no matter how hard or how long you work for trust, if the trust-giver doesn’t deem you worthy, trust will never be given to you.
This is why some people feel indignant and resentful, even insulted, when the trust they’ve been working hard for is not given to them. Relationships are tarnished, business deals are terminated, and friendships are shattered, all because the trust-receiver believes it’s not fair that trust still isn’t given despite all their efforts.
In business, harboring this huge misconception about trust can be extremely detrimental. For an organization to function synergistically, seamlessly, and efficiently, trust must be at the core of team dynamics. Leaders must trust their team members, team members must trust their leaders, and team members must also trust one another. If trust can’t be built, earned, and given, the organization is at risk of failure.
Why Trust Is Crucial in the Workplace
Building (and giving) trust is necessary for harmonious and productive relationships in the workplace. It’s also one of the key ingredients in the formula for encouraging lasting relationships — a critical aspect in the business world that can be advantageous to you in the long run.
Cultivating trust in your work culture lets you enjoy these benefits:
- Employees feel safe sharing ideas
- Employees eagerly help each other out
- Promotes an overall sense of well-being and helps with preserving mental health
- Helps everyone enjoy peace of mind at work
- Better collaboration and engagement
- Better work performance (organizations with a high-trust culture perform almost twice as much in terms of company earnings as their contemporaries in the industry)
- Lower employee turnover (employees are 16% less likely to stay in their current organizations if they don’t feel comfortable sharing insights and feedback with their leaders)
How To Build Trust (So Others Give It To You)
As a leader, it is your job to build trust and earn it so that your team members grant you their trust once they deem you worthy of it. At Sancus Leadership, we promote a high-trust culture within business teams because it is a core value that may make or break an organization. When you’re ready to know more about how you can establish trust within your team, book us a free leadership call, and we’ll get the ball rolling for you!
Here are some tips to get you started on creating a strong culture of trust in your team:
1. Be Consistent
Trust is never truly earned through isolated kind deeds or random grand gestures. It has to be built continuously and steadily over time. You must be able to make the trust-giver feel that it’s safe to be unguarded, exposed, and vulnerable with you.
Remember, the work doesn’t end when trust is finally granted. You have to keep working at it because the trust-giver, at any point in time, can suddenly decide that you’re not worth the risk involved with the trust. Just a small sign of dishonesty or deception can make them quickly change their mind about you.
2. Be an Active Listener
It’s not enough that you listen to your team’s insights, concerns, and plans. It’s crucial that you listen actively rather than passively so they’ll feel that you’re invested in them.
Your team members should be able to freely talk to you about any misgivings or insecurities they may be harboring. They should feel safe opening up to you and sharing ideas without fearing unfair judgment, ridicule, or utter disregard.
When you truly listen to your team, they’ll likely listen to you as well when it’s your turn to share insights, ideas, doubts, and fears. They’ll also develop a healthy respect for you and find it easier to defer to your guidance and leadership.
3. Lead with Integrity
Build trust and credibility in your team by leading them always with honesty, openness, and transparency. Make sure your team members are always informed and updated on crucial and relevant organizational issues. Consistently share information, whether good or bad, to make them feel that they’re your allies in business and not just your followers.
Follow through with your actions so your team knows you’re as good as your word. If you establish the reputation that people can always believe whatever you say, trust will not be hard to give.
Just as important as staying true to your promises is not promising something that you can’t deliver. This is a quick deal breaker, and all your efforts may go to waste if your team senses inconsistency in you.
Leading with integrity sends the message to your team that you’re someone worthy of their respect. They’ll find it easier to trust someone who they know will always act in their best interests.
4. Take Ownership of Your Work
Learn from failures and shortcomings and show your team the value of humility and taking ownership of your work. By doing so, you’re showing your team members that taking risks shouldn’t be extremely daunting because failures are part and parcel of trying.
Furthermore, when they fail, always extend your support and guidance. Make each failure a learning experience from which your team members can glean valuable firsthand insights. Let them know that you always have their backs and you’ll always help them get back on track whenever they stumble.
5. Lead By Example
Give them an excellent role model to emulate — you! This is a great way to inspire your team members to always aim to become better versions of themselves while showing them that you’re an honorable, dependable, and virtuous leader worthy of their trust.
During my time in the military, I found trust to be an indispensable core value that must be cultivated with peers, subordinates, and superiors. It’s imperative that we had confidence in each other and knew that we always had each other’s backs. Trust in each other is what enabled us to become lionhearted and stay the course.
As a leader, I made sure that trust always started with me, especially when leading a new team or if there were new members in my team. One of my main strategies to earn my team’s confidence was leading with empathy. I always made an effort to understand and share their feelings, never invalidating or deriding any of them. It was a great way to show my team how I expect them to act towards others as well.
Key Takeaways
Building trust in the workplace is necessary for efficiency, growth, and success. It’s also crucial in helping establish strong bonds within the organization that are crucial to ensuring synergy, collaboration, and engagement.
Think long-term when striving to foster trust in your team. It may be extremely challenging to build, but never sit on your laurels once you earn it. Trust is a continuous work in progress that demands consistency, integrity, and purposefulness.
