How to Build Trust In A Room When You Need It Most

To be an effective leader you need to be able to build trust. It’s really that simple. If trust isn’t present, you can’t lead successfully. Building trust is an ongoing process, something you need to work at every day. Here are some of the key elements:

Learn to communicate effectively. Poor communication is a major reason for mistrust. Good communication includes being clear about what you have or have not committed to and what has been agreed upon. Building trust requires connection, so it’s important that the messages you send are exactly what you intend them to be and that you listen well enough to interpret other people’s messages correctly.

Demonstrate expertise and good judgment. People are more likely to trust you as a leader if they believe you know what you’re talking about and have the experience and discernment to make good decisions. You can’t build trust when you’re faking it. Do your homework and make sure you can showcase your expertise with clarity and confidence.

Value your relationships and don’t take them for granted. Strong leadership is based on developing and maintaining relationships. That means you need to be active in keeping relationships strong, never taking them for granted. When you support people, resolve conflicts fairly and give honest feedback, you show the consistency that builds trusting relationships.

Follow through on commitments and do what you say you’ll do. In a recent study, a significant percentage of employees said that the most effective way to build trust was simply following through on commitments. In contrast, 48 percent said their leaders were all talk and no action. Building trust means voicing commitments and then doing what you said you would do.

Be unfailingly honest and transparent. Many leaders, even those who pride themselves on communication and motivation, have a hard time telling the truth when the news is bad. While it’s a natural impulse to protect people from bad news, a lack of transparency and honesty creates a culture of suspicion and rumors.

Admit your mistakes and take ownership of your failures. You’ve probably seen what happens when someone—especially a leader—tries to hide their mistakes. Most often the person ends up looking even worse than they would have if they’d just owned up from the start. There’s a common fear that showing your vulnerable side and letting people see your imperfections will damage your credibility as a leader. In fact, it builds trust and relatability.

Trust is required in the workplace so everyone can feel they are there for the right reasons, working toward shared goals with a sense of purpose. Every effective leader knows that if trust isn’t in the room, they have to learn to build it and earn it.

Lead from within: Leading a company to greatness isn’t done in a day, and no one said it would be easy. But when you build strong foundations of trust, people can work to build greatness together.

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The Leadership Gap
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

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• The One Quality Every Leader Needs To Succeed
• The Deception Trap of Leadership

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