Build Personal and Team Trust

A compassionate leader's guide to strengthening the key to success

Jun 28, 2023

As leaders, our role in cultivating trust is far from a mere expectation or attractive trait. In fact, it's a fundamental determinant of our effectiveness. This responsibility manifests at two critical levels:

The Individual Level - This is about your personal credibility as a leader. Can others rely on your judgment and integrity?
The Team Level - This is about the collective trust within your team. It's creating a culture where every team member trusts in each other's abilities and the common goals.

Trust shapes our communication, collaboration, and innovation. When it's missing at any level, both leadership impact and team synergy suffer, affecting overall success.

Where Do You and Your Team Stand?

Turn your focus inward. Evaluate the level of trust you’ve garnered as a leader. Ask yourself:

How does this trust influence your team's performance and your business outcomes?
How might it be impacting your ability to innovate and make decisions?

Then, consider the level of trust within your team. Evaluate the degree to which they trust each other. Ask yourself:

Are they comfortable relying on one another?
Do they feel safe sharing ideas, taking risks, and admitting mistakes without fear of judgment or backlash?
How might this level of trust be shaping your team’s synergy and overall performance?

There’s Actually a Formula for Trust

According to Maister, Galford, and Green’s (2000) “The Trust Equation” from The Trusted Advisor, trust is formulated as:

(Credibility + Reliability + Authenticity) / Self-Interest = Trust

It's a simple yet powerful truth: the trust you garner is directly proportional to your credibility, reliability, and authenticity, and inversely proportional to your perceived self-interest.

Would you agree?

Where Can You Strengthen Trustworthiness?

For you: Do you need to boost your credibility, demonstrate more reliability, show more of your authentic self, or ensure your decisions and actions reflect a genuine interest in the collective good?

For your team: How might you use The Trust Equation to strengthen trust among members?

Want to Go Deeper?

For further insights into the role trust plays in leadership, I recommend "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni.

Framed in a digestible, allegorical style, the book offers a brilliant exploration of common team dynamics when trust is deficient. While some may find its fable-like narrative a bit quaint, its effective and accessible framework cannot be denied. It provides actionable steps for leaders to cultivate a high-trust environment, making it an essential read.

Use Failures to Build Trust

Inspired by Jen Dulski, the idea of a Festival of Failure is to incorporate either a deep dive or go around the horn to share a few failures and learnings from the week to encourage moving fast, learning and growing.

It’s as easy as starting with your next team meeting. Dedicate time for everyone to share one mistake they’ve made recently, and what they’ve learned from it. Be the first to share. Your vulnerability and acceptance of imperfection can go a long way in creating a trust-filled atmosphere where learning from failures becomes a norm.

Building Trust Is a Continuous Journey

I'd love to hear about your experiences, challenges, or insights around trust as a leader. Share your thoughts in the comments.