Cultivating Professional Trust
Being in a leadership position in any sort of environment is challenging. No matter the uniqueness of their individual situations, all leaders typically find themselves facing the same obstacle at some point: mistrust. It’s often a natural reaction for subordinates to feel as though those operating above them achieved their positions by only looking out for their own self-interests. This makes being able to cultivate an environment of trust one of the most important leadership skills that one can possess. If you hold a position of authority within your company, it ’s important that you understand the impact that mistrust can have on your team. Not only does affect the way that your employees receive instruction and guidance from you, but it also impacts how they work with each other. When no trust is present, people live in fear of not only asking for help, but also offering it. This “every man for himself ” sort of attitude is the primary obstacle to developing an effective organization culture. How to Show Employees that You Care The responsibility falls to you, then, to create a work environment that’s conducive to trusting in each other. Here are just a few examples of workplace practices that can help to build it: Show how relationships are mutually beneficial: To say that every team member’s role is important can be viewed as incredibly cliche, no matter how true it may be. Employees need to actually be able to see the impact that their work has in order to truly value it. Thus, rather than trying to manage every aspect of employee workflow, consider giving more ownership of your employees’ responsibilities directly to them. This not only introduces an added measure of accountability, but it also demonstrates the level of trust you have in them successfully filling their roles within the team. They, in turn, will trust in your promise to offer them support in order to fulfill them. Let employees do what they do best: No two employees will share the same strengths and aptitudes. When you’re working in an environment where multiple people share the same job description, it’s easy for employees to feel as though their talents aren’t appreciated. Keep a sharp eye out for what each of your team member’s talents may be, and then consider revising their roles to allow them to do more of what they do best. This helps to take unwanted workflow off of other’s plates and raise the overall quality of the work being done. It also shows to your employees that you’ve paid close attention to them and recognized their skill sets. Prove that relationships are more important than outcomes: You don’t want to be viewed as the over-demanding taskmaster driving your team to near-collapse. Simply driving an unmotivated workforce to work harder is only increasing the output of mediocre work. Instead, put people before projects, and let your team know that being at their best means taking care of themselves both in and out of work. If that means taking a day off here or there, so be it. Your success as leader depends largely on having the trust and support of your team members. We here at Etech Global Services have years of experience in working with companies and corporations to help improve their processes. Part of that has been helping individual team leaders develop the skills necessary to motive and inspire those that they manage. Let us help you ensure the full effort of your team by creating an effective and efficient atmosphere of trust and respect.
