“Mistrust doubles the cost of doing business.” Professor John Whitney, Columbia Business School

In today’s virtual world of leadership, where email serves as the primary (and overused) means of communication, how does a leader build trust with those who are looking to her for guidance and support? How does a new leader develop trust among those who are looking to her for the answers so that they are willing to be candid about what needs to occur in order for the business to grow and develop?

Trust is such an intangible feeling but ask any employee and they will tell you whom they do, and do not, trust within the leadership of their organization. To trust simply means to be vulnerable with sharing information and have confidence that the person you are sharing the information with respects the intent with which it was given.

According to The Harvard Business Review, developing trust is  the priority of a new leader and before any strategic work can be done, collaborative trusting relationships with the employees who do the work must be developed. Taking the time to meet, listen to, and begin to know each employee face to face creates the building blocks of mutual trust and respect.  According to ForbesWoman , the nuances that are picked up during face to face communication are responsible for 93 percent of the intended message and,as women, we can leverage the biologic tendency to be strong communicators and active  listeners by genetic default. Spending time face to face listening to your team are the most important hours of your day. The information gathered will help direct you to meeting your business objectives, have a  better understanding of the culture and develop goals for the team. Trust based leadership begins with the following 5 principles:

1. Actively Listen. This is much easier said then done and takes tremendous practice. Active listening means you listen, with no judgement, with no quick solution or explanation as to why what the person is telling you is incorrect, wrong, not important etc. Active listening means you suppress your responses and reflect and repeat back to the speaker what you have heard them say.  Phrases such as “what I hear you say is that ” or “if I am understanding you correctly you are feeling” and most importantly ” I understand you are concerned with”.  Perceptions are reality in terms of the speaker and respecting their perception is the first key to building their trust.
2.  Be a person of your word. Follow through is perhaps the biggest building block of trust. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If it becomes undo-able, communicate the why.  It is the small commitments that you keep that begin to build up equity in your trust account and overtime establish that you are someone who can be counted on.
3. Know people on a personal level.  Understanding individual people and recognizing them as individuals is essential in establishing trust with them. Learn what their goals are. Ask how you can help them grow. Take the time to explore how they would like to contribute to the work and they will trust that you have their best interests at heart whenever decisions are made.
4. Fully examine your character and your competence level. The two greatest factors that people use to evaluate whether or not you are to be trusted are based on your integrity and do you do what you say you are going to do.  Imagine you report to a leader who’s character is inconsistent.  Would you be able to trust they have your best interest at heart?  What if they were a most genuine and caring leader but never followed through or were able to contribute effectively to the work. Could you trust that leader to effectively manage their job (and yours)?
5.  Be vulnerable.  Be willing to share your failures, examine the not-so-positive feedback and actively work on areas that are a struggle for you. Showing your team that you are accountable to yourself and to them goes a long way in establishing trust. Working with a leader who is always seeking new opportunities for self growth honest about self examination will role model emotional intelligence and develop trust.

Trust is the one thing that changes everything. Every personal relationship, business transaction, and governmental policy must establish the principles of trust or suffer  relationship erosion and negative outcomes. When trust is established- innovation and collaboration flourish. What seemed insurmountable is achievable.  Teams that are emotionally invested in their leader are inspired to do the work, share the load, and weather the storm.  Instilling trust in those that follow truly is the great leadership divide.  Either you have it…or you don’t.