Trust & Respect Accumulates Over Time
Trust is the necessary ingredient for a Leader to be Respected, and for a Team to perform at Optimal Potential.
A Leaders Trust & Respect is accumulated by the many little things they do consistently every day. It is like putting coins into a piggy bank. It builds slowly over time by how a leader consistently acts, behaves, and conducts themselves.
Team Trust evolves through close Familiarity and a sense of Belonging amongst all team members. It requires a collective commitment to the pursuit of a “Winning Team Mindset.”
Accumulating Leadership Trust and Respect
A Leader cannot just thump the table and demand Trust and Respect. It results from an accumulation of the many little things a leader does consistently every day. It forms over time by how a Leader conducts themselves.
Leadership is an achievement of Trust
Peter Drucker
How Does a Leader Accumulate Trust?
What Feeds a Leaders Trust & Respect Bank?
This is something each Leader must work out for themselves – and develop their own formula. Key is to be self-aware of how they are impacting others and making people feel. If this is absent with a leader – then it is highly likely they will be seen as a toxic leader!
Ten practical tips for any Leader to build their Trust & Respect Bank:
1. You Only Get One Chance to Create a Positive First Impression
A leaders first engagement with the people and teams in their charge will always create a lasting memory. From the moment a Leader greets and engages with a person, they will be forming a critical opinion of the key messages sent, language used, and rules laid. It is a Leaders responsibility to create the right foundation for any relationship.
No relationship will ever have a chance to thrive without TRUST and RESPECT
2. Understand Leadership is not a Title (Are You a Leader or Merely in Charge?)
Just because a leader has a title or position of authority – does not mean they assume the role of being a Leader. Too often people hide behind a title and assume the position of being a boss. Leaders build trust and respect through their wisdom, insights, behaviours, and mindsets. A Boss is just a person someone reports to.
Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example.
3. Leaders will always be described by what they consistently do and say, or not do!
All Leaders are judged by what they repeatedly say and do, or by what they do not do. What is ignored by a Leader speaks volumes for what they believe. The most often criticized Leader is the Absent Leader: The one who checks out, is not present or supportive in difficult times, rarely role models the desired mindsets and behaviours, struggles to follow through on commitments, and is obsessed with accountability and laying blame.
What you do as a leader has far greater impact than what you say
Stephen Covey
4. Words & Actions Must Align (Words reflect what you THINK – Actions reveal what you BELIEVE as a Leader)
Leaders who follow through on promises and commitments, meet deadlines, close feedback loops in a timely manner, and honour commitments (without the need to be reminded) BUILD TRUST. This is the single most important simple act a Leader can do to build TRUST & RESPECT.
“It is only the Big Things I Do as a Leader that will make an impact!”
Said no leader ever
5. People will Never Forget how a Leader Made Them Feel
We are all emotional beings. How we make others feel requires empathy and self-awareness. Strong emotional bonds accumulate over time. If a Leader believes treating people poorly is a sign of strong Leadership – they are surely mistaken, as it will only erode TRUST. Treating people with respect and empathy is what builds TRUST.
To get Respect you must first give & show Respect. You cannot disrespect others and expect them to respect you – Ever!
6. Leadership Rituals are Important
It is the symbolic things that count, what a leader consistently does and role models. Things such as Managing by Walking Around to check in on people. Greeting people by their first name. Asking people how they are and stopping to listen to their response. Showing interest in someone’s Family and how they are all faring during turbulent times. Remembering birthdays and key milestones. Thanking people meaningfully for working back or achieving a work milestone. Acknowledging who helped achieve a key team success. These are not hard to do but are significant if they are consistently done over time. This is what will build and accumulate TRUST and RESPECT.
Leaders who cannot meaningfully connect with their people, or acknowledge and thank people for their hard work, or simply take the time to check in with others – will always eventually kill the culture and commitment of the team.
7. Understand Everyone has a Front Yard and Back Yard
People bring their “game face” to work. It is what we all see and witness in any workplace. But we all have a “Back Yard,” our personal lives which fuel how we are feeling and thinking at any given time. Understanding and being Familiar with a person’s Front-Yard (Career) and Back Yard (Personal Life) helps a Leader understand how a person ticks and provides the basis upon how to Lead and Connect with someone on a deeper and more meaningful basis. A Leader who Genuinely Cares is always going to build a stronger level of TRUST.
The greatest engagement weapon a Leader has is a Caring Heart, a Listening Ear, and a Forward-Facing Approach to Life
8. Presenteeism is Key – Look to See – Listen to Hear
The Leader who asks how someone is – and then does not wait to hear a reply is not present. A Leader who understands who a person is and is Familiar with their Life circumstances, is more likely to ask meaningful questions, and observe how a person is feeling. There are always important nonverbal cues a leader can only pick up if they know who a person is and spend the time to engage and understand their back story and future aspirations. If a Leader is not present – Trust cannot be built.
It takes time to get to know someone. This requires a Leader to spend the time to listen to and know the story of their team members – observe their qualities – and understand their role in the team. This provides the intelligence for a leader to engage, connect and inspire people
9. Show Empathy – Say Thank You
The most powerful motivation for anyone is having someone acknowledge and recognise their good work and the positive impact / energy they bring to the team. This is what all Trusted Leaders do. “They catch people doing things right.” This reinforces the right behaviours and mindsets, builds confidence, and sends a message to what is desired to everyone else. Constant Adversarial Leadership destroys confidence and diminishes TRUST & RESPECT. People get battle fatigued when praise, empathy and recognition are absent!
You are never too busy to say thank you, praise someone, or just ask someone how they are going. If you have not got the time to do this, you are not qualified to be a Leader.
10. Be Self Aware in any Moment (Trust is about Many Moments & Consistency)
Leaders need to be in tune with their emotions, and how their gift of feedback is going to be perceived and received. The art of observing current performance, interpreting reasons for the performance (good or bad), formulating the feedback to provide, and indeed delivering the most effective feedback is what builds a Leaders TRUST and CREDIBILITY. The right Leadership Style and Feedback Mechanism must suit the given moment .
Self-Aware Leaders bring their best selves to work – whilst also bringing out the best in others.
Outstanding Leaders go out of their way to build the Self-Esteem of their Personnel and the Morale of their Team. If people believe in themselves and Teams Trust each other it is amazing what they can accomplish
Sam Walton
