Building Trust: The foundation of leadership

Trust can be hard to achieve and can be lost in the blink of an eye. Building trust with a team or a staff can only be accomplished by consistently being fair, truthful and willing to stand up for your people.

Do you set clear expectations, give meaningful reasons and define the methods for achievement? I often hear it said, ?I?ve got no time to explain why things need to be done, much less how to do them.? Yet these considerations motivate high levels of performance, because people feel valued in an environment of shared communications. In my years in publishing, we had a saying, ?We?ve never have time to do it right, but we?ve always time to do it over.? Taking the extra time will save you time and money.

Are you always truthful? Being truthful and ?telling it like it is? are two different things. Although you don?t have to tell all the truth, if you want to be trusted you have to be worthy of trust. In order to be trustworthy, you must be truthful. It isn?t necessary to violate confidences or reveal proprietary information. But sharing all the information you can, is a strength that your people value.

Do you set SMART objectives for your team? Are they Specific? Measurable? Achievable? Realistic? And Time-bound? How often have you been handed DUMB objectives? Depressing? Unrealistic? Meaningless? And Benumbing? If handed DUMB goals, can you and your team make them SMART? You?ve heard it said, ? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.? Turning DUMB goals into SMART goals often is a matter of leadership. Your people will respond positively when they know you are committed to making their work meaningful, exciting and fun.

Coaching and mentoring opportunities are plentiful and easy to employ. It only takes a little common sense and the desire to create a people-centered workplace.