How to build trust with your team

Check out this post to learn why intentionally building trust is a non-negotiable in the workplace.

"We have a million and one metrics to measure someone's performance and negligible-to-no metrics to measure someone's trustworthiness. So what we end up doing is promoting or bonusing toxicity in our businesses which is bad for the long game because it eventually destroys the whole organization."

Simon Sinek

Watch the short 2-minute video with Simon Sinek here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJdXjtSnZTI&ab_channel=MikeKnight Navy Seal Team 6 would rather have someone with medium-to-low performance and HIGH trust. High-performers with low trust are toxic leaders & team members.

I challenge you to answer how this shows up in your organization:

How many higher performers with high trust do you have?

How many high performers with low trust do you have?

What makes you keep the high performers with low trust? What impact does keeping them have on the organization?

How can you make trust a focus for your organization?

How can you build trust?

Be transparent, genuine, and truthful.
Care about people on a human-level; care about their well-being.
Words need to match actions.
Exhibit humility & compassion.
Show that you support and stand up for others – your employees, coworkers, and superiors.
Acknowledge other contributions, ideas, perspectives, & feedback, which allows others to feel heard and valued.
Respond to your employees; don’t let emails/messages go ignored.
Solicit feedback and then seek to understand it (versus becoming defensive and reacting to it).
Reveal your insecurities, mistakes, and be vulnerable.
Accept responsibility; take ownership when applicable.
Encourage people, don’t boss them around.
Don’t play favorites. Treat everyone consistently and fairly.
Admit when you don’t know the answer. People don’t expect you to know everything.
Avoid people pleasing and appealing to people to be liked.
Explain the WHY behind thoughts/decisions. At least provide some context rather than simply stating the decision. Share whatever information you can. This helps them buy into the bigger picture and see how they fit into it.
Find the right balance; don’t be absentee and don’t micromanage.
View productivity as outcome/results rather than face time (communicate this and put it into action).
Assume positive intent. Trust that employees know what’s best for themselves and are using their best judgment – taking sick days, choosing when to leave the office during inclement weather, etc. Allow and encourage them to make these decisions for themselves, rather than rely on you to give them permission (treat them like the adults they are).
Empower others.

Closing thoughts

You do NOT have to hold a leadership title or have direct reports to exhibit highly-effective behavior and build trust with others. However, for leadership positions, building trust is a non-negotiable because everything trickles down. People look up to leadership and have high expectations of leadership to exhibit this behavior.

How are you going to put this into action?

In today’s fast-paced, rapidly evolving business landscape, effective leadership development is non-negotiable. Clients consistently report that their work with Amber results in elevated leadership skills, increased productivity, reduced turnover, and enhanced interpersonal effectiveness. Clients have built and led high-performing teams, fostered self-accountability, and seen less resistance to change initiatives. Many have attained promotions, boosted their confidence, and taken control of their time and energy.

How to build trust with your team

I challenge you to answer how this shows up in your organization:

How can you build trust?

Closing thoughts

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