If a leader wants to lead well and successfully, he or she must build trust with those around him or her. Without trust, teams won’t thrive or even survive. I believe we leaders must prioritize building trust with and among those we lead and serve. Consider these 10 ways to build trust with your teams.
- Speak truth, but always in love.
- Eph. 4.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
- Don’t spin and don’t flatter. Tell the truth, but don’t use a bat to do it. Jim Carrey starred in a movie several years ago called Liar Liar. He always spoke the truth but with no love, consideration or respect.
- One of the most successful ways to deplete people’s trust accounts is to send angry emails. Don’t do that. See my blog here about misusing email.
- Golden rule trust.
- The golden rule says, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Matt. 7.12)
- In other words, give trust to others and they will give it to you. If you don’t trust others, don’t expect them to trust you. Trust gets reciprocated. You want trust, you have to extend it to others
- Biblically rooted trust does not mean blind trust. Stephen M. R. Covey calls it smart trust. There must be some credibility and history before you give full trust. I recommend his book Smart Trust.
- Smart trust means that you have a propensity to trust and that you extend and inspire trust in others.
- Risk transparency.
- People don’t trust what they don’t see. Trust requires humility in that you give part of yourself to others so that you actually give the power to them to potentially hurt or disappoint you. Banish hidden agendas. Don’t make things appear what they are not. Be willing to admit your failures and struggles.
- Go the extra mile to right wrongs.
- Don’t cover up. Don’t make excuses. Own your own failures. You will build trust in others when you admit it when you were wrong.
- Give credit where credit is due.
- Practice Matthew 18 by dealing with conflict 1-1 first. Don’t let others con you into their conflict when they aren’t willing to apply Matthew 18.
