To Build Trust, You Have to Give Trust

Have you ever heard the saying, “If they don’t trust me, why should I trust them?”? Well, there’s something to that. People who are more willing to trust others tend to be seen as more trustworthy. Afterall, trust is a two-way street, and as a leader, it is your responsibility to give your trust to others first in order to build trust amongst your team. Organizations that develop a high level of trust between employees and leaders are typically more productive overall and maintain a higher level of retention.

If you want to build trust with your employees, you need to first demonstrate that you have confidence in them. If you are the kind of leader who is constantly checking in with your employees on their progress and micromanaging their every move, then you are telling them that you do not trust them to do their job on their own. That is not to say that you shouldn’t check in with them periodically, but you do not need to know what they are doing every second of the day. Believe that they want what’s best for the organization, and let them learn to lead themselves. You will know that you have done your job as a manager when you don’t have to manage your people so closely.

Another big part of developing trust as a leader is to do what you say you’re going to do. If you are constantly contradicting yourself, your employees will not know what to expect from you, and they will not take you at your word. Following through is a crucial part of leadership, and yet so many people overlook it. They think that because they are in charge, their team will just have to adapt to whatever they end up doing, but they don’t consider the damage that causes to the relationship between their employees and themselves.

When you enter into an employment agreement, you want to be able to trust the people you work with, but that sometimes means putting your trust in them first. During the first 90 or so days of employment, the new employee is getting to know the organization, their team, and their leaders, so this is a critical time to establish a positive working relationship with the individual. A foundation of mutual trust and respect can set the tone for long-term success and collaboration.

-Meghan Slaughter