Trust is a cultural norm that is an outcome of good management. It is developed by mutual understanding of expectations of the employers and employees. Trust is the ultimate key to being an inspiring leader. The climate of trust in organizations make people feel empowered. However both the employers and employees are responsible for creating the climate of trust within an organization. Regular communications between leaders and employees is required to build trust, rapport and empower people to be the best they can be (HR Asia, 2016).
Trust and relationship go hand in hand. However, it does not come with the title. It needs to be earned (Robins, 2017). Creating the climate of trust and facilitating relationship helps in enabling others to act. In order to develop climate of trust and facilitate relationships, leaders need to invest in trust, be the first one to trust, show concern for others, share knowledge and information, develop co-operative roles and goals, support norms of reciprocity, structure projects to promote joint effort and support face-to face interactions (Kouzes & Poner, 2012).
The following activities help leaders in creating climate of trust and facilitating relationships:
Putting the interests of organization and constituents ahead of one’s interests.
Articulating and frequently repeating the common goal that everyone is striving to achieve.
Sharing values that are important and reinforcing the larger purpose of which everyone is a part of.
Structuring projects in a way that requires co-operation to achieve the common goal.
Making sure that people understand how they are interdependent with one another.
Finding ways to get people together face-to- face.
Spending time getting to know about the constituents.
Showing concern for the problems and aspirations of others in the team.
Sharing information about personal strengths, hopes, mistakes and aspirations with the team members.
Listening to understand, not to judge.
For a leader to show others that he is trust worthy, he needs to demonstrate passion by participating in work related activities, maintain transparency by sharing knowledge and information, admit to the mistakes and share credit, keep promise by doing what is said, communicate effectively and know employees personally (Robins, 2017). Being good at what they do, showing passion about their work, operating with self-awareness, caring about people, wanting the best for constituents, listening, having perspective, managing direction and work, not the people and seeing beyond self help a leader to gain trust of others (Russell, 2012). In addition, leaders need to lead by example, stop blaming others, discourage cliques and discuss trust issues to build trust (Mindtools, n.d.).
For example: If a leader says he will be in the office to discuss about the latest development in the project and do not show up without informing anyone, the team members won’t believe him from the next time and he fails to gain trust of the constituents. Similarly, if the leader is concerned with individual gain and do not show any interest in knowing about constituents, he cannot be trustworthy.
Trust should be reciprocated. If a leader wants to demonstrate he is trust worthy, he should show that he trusts other members in the team as well. Often times, lack of self-awareness, risk- averse by design and bottom line mentality prevents leaders from trusting others. To overcome this and show the team members that they are trusted, a leader should be communicating openly and honestly, eliminating suspicions of bias, pushing the employees for needed change, carefully giving up control and investing in employee development. When a leader grant resource authority to employees with certain toleration of mistakes and let them know that he is willing to invest in their potential by knowing their aspirations make the employees feel trusted (Korsgaard, 2017). Involving people in the decisions that directly affect them and paying attention to relationships are also ways to show that a leader trusts others (Fast Company, 2012).
For example: If the leader assigns a team member with the responsibility of leading a particular department with full autonomy in operations and decisions of that department, the employee will feel trusted.
Trust is a cultural norm that is an outcome of good management. It is developed by mutual understanding of expectations of the employers and employees. Trust is the ultimate key to being an inspiring leader. The climate of trust in organizations make people feel empowered. However both the employers and employees are responsible for creating the climate of trust within an organization. Regular communications between leaders and employees is required to build trust, rapport and empower people to be the best they can be (HR Asia, 2016).
Trust and relationship go hand in hand. However, it does not come with the title. It needs to be earned (Robins, 2017). Creating the climate of trust and facilitating relationship helps in enabling others to act. In order to develop climate of trust and facilitate relationships, leaders need to invest in trust, be the first one to trust, show concern for others, share knowledge and information, develop co-operative roles and goals, support norms of reciprocity, structure projects to promote joint effort and support face-to face interactions (Kouzes & Poner, 2012).
The following activities help leaders in creating climate of trust and facilitating relationships:
For a leader to show others that he is trust worthy, he needs to demonstrate passion by participating in work related activities, maintain transparency by sharing knowledge and information, admit to the mistakes and share credit, keep promise by doing what is said, communicate effectively and know employees personally (Robins, 2017). Being good at what they do, showing passion about their work, operating with self-awareness, caring about people, wanting the best for constituents, listening, having perspective, managing direction and work, not the people and seeing beyond self help a leader to gain trust of others (Russell, 2012). In addition, leaders need to lead by example, stop blaming others, discourage cliques and discuss trust issues to build trust (Mindtools, n.d.).
For example: If a leader says he will be in the office to discuss about the latest development in the project and do not show up without informing anyone, the team members won’t believe him from the next time and he fails to gain trust of the constituents. Similarly, if the leader is concerned with individual gain and do not show any interest in knowing about constituents, he cannot be trustworthy.
Trust should be reciprocated. If a leader wants to demonstrate he is trust worthy, he should show that he trusts other members in the team as well. Often times, lack of self-awareness, risk- averse by design and bottom line mentality prevents leaders from trusting others. To overcome this and show the team members that they are trusted, a leader should be communicating openly and honestly, eliminating suspicions of bias, pushing the employees for needed change, carefully giving up control and investing in employee development. When a leader grant resource authority to employees with certain toleration of mistakes and let them know that he is willing to invest in their potential by knowing their aspirations make the employees feel trusted (Korsgaard, 2017). Involving people in the decisions that directly affect them and paying attention to relationships are also ways to show that a leader trusts others (Fast Company, 2012).
For example: If the leader assigns a team member with the responsibility of leading a particular department with full autonomy in operations and decisions of that department, the employee will feel trusted.
References
Fast Company. (2012, July 8). How Leaders Build Trust . Retrieved from fastcompany.com/300204/how-leaders...
HR Asia. (2016, February 2). Tips for Leaders to Create a Climate of Trust Within Organizations .
Korsgaard, M. A. (2017, May 5). Harvard Business Review . Retrieved from Managing People: Want Your Employees to Trust You? Show You Trust Them.
Kouzes, J. M., & Poner, B. Z. (2012). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: A Wiley Brand.
Mindtools. (n.d.). Building Trust Inside Your Team . Retrieved from Ways to Improve Team Cohesion: mindtools.com/pages/article/buildo...
Robins, A. (2017, April 28). Office Vibe . Retrieved from 8 Secrets for Building Trust as a Leader.
Russell, N. S. (2012, August). Psychology Today . Retrieved from 10 Ways Effective Leaders Build Trust: psychologytoday.com/us/blog/trust-...