5 ways to show your team they can trust you

As a business owner you need to know you can trust your team. They’re representing you and your business so you want to feel confident they are acting in your best interests.

However, don’t underestimate how important it is that they trust you too. A leader is only a leader if they have people who are willing to follow them. Trust plays a huge part in that.

If your team don’t trust you you won’t get the best from them. They won’t feel so invested in the success of your business or their role in it. They’ll feel reluctant to put forward ideas or try new things for fear of making mistakes and recriminations. They won’t feel safe to offer an alternative opinion or tell you if something has gone wrong.

In this blog I will share 5 things you can start doing right now to show your team they can trust you.

1. Be open and honest with your team

Sharing information with your team helps them feel involved and valued. Talk to them about things like what you are working on at the moment, your plans for the business, the current priorities, risks or problems.

There may be things you don’t want to share or aren’t ready to share with them yet and that’s okay. If you are honest about this too your team will have less reason to think you are hiding things from them.

2. Be consistent in your actions

Some people trust until they have a reason not to, other people will need to be convinced you are worthy of their trust. Either way long term trust depends on you showing your team they can trust you through your actions and behaviours.

If your team see you are reliable, show compassion and understanding that will build trust in you. If you consistently make yourself available to them when they need you, care about their wellbeing and look out for everyone’s interests that all helps to build trust too.

3. Allow your team to get to know the real you

It is difficult to build deeper relationships with someone that is very guarded and doesn’t let you in.  You never really get to know them properly and it can feel like you don’t know where you stand with them. It can also make you more suspicious of their motivations.

Share with your team what drives you, what you’re passionate about, what your interests and values are. You can set your own boundaries around this and keep it focused on work topics if you want to keep your home life separate.

4. Give trust to receive trust

You can’t expect your team to trust you if they don’t feel trusted.  You have to show trust to receive it in return. Allow team members to take responsibility for their area of work. Don’t micro-manage them. 

That doesn’t mean you have to be completely hands off. You can put systems in place to check and verify that the right things are getting done. It helps sets the tone for how you want the team to work together.

5. Create a learning culture

Actively creating a learning culture is a great way to build trust in you as the leader of the team. Talk openly about successes and failures. Encourage your team members to share what they think has worked well and what could have been done better.

Be willing to share your thoughts about things that have happened and what you have learnt from those experiences. Give your team permission to do the same. They’ll know they can trust you if you meet their honesty with patience, respect and a pragmatic approach.

For those that want to dig deeper on this I help businesses to build trust within their team. It’s time to stop feeling frustrated with your team.

Get in touch to find out how I can help you lead your team your way.

Interested to find out more? Book a call with Jo
Hi I’m Jo,

As a business owner I understand how easy it can be to feel overwhelmed by your business. I know how important it is to build a team around you that can support you to bring your vision to life. You need to feel empowered to drive your business forward in a way that feels right for you and avoids burnout.

In a previous life I’ve been the leader of a large team but I have also been a trainer, a facilitator, assessor and coach, all in the leadership space. I now love drawing on my experience to help business owners who are breaking the mould in their industry and doing things differently to discover how to lead their business THEIR way.

The problem is, when you set out to do things differently there isn’t a blueprint to follow. It’s about finding a way that works for you. I provide the tools and support that enable business owners to lead themselves, their business and their team in way that feels authentic and sustainable for them.

Interested to find out more? Book a call with Jo

For further information on this:

Do you really trust your team and do they trust you?

Harvard Business Review

Building trust in the workplace

Tony Robbins

Brene Brown: The biggest myth about vulnerability

YouTube

How do you build trust as a manger?

CMI

Interested to find out more? Book a call with Jo