How to Build a Culture of Trust
When it comes to building strong, successful relationships, most people rank trust as one of the most important factors. After all, you can’t connect with someone unless you trust them. This is true in all types of relationships, including romantic, familial, friend — and even professional.
Harvard researcher Paul J. Zak (author of Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies) has shared decades of research on the importance of trust in professional settings. High-trust businesses see significantly less stress and burnout, with significantly more employee engagement. Trust is even shown to reduce sick days.
The importance of building a culture of trust in your organization cannot be understated. When your team trusts you (and trusts one another) incredible things can happen. Each team member is more likely to:
- Share innovative ideas
- Be proactive
- Collaborate effectively
- Roll with the punches
- Commit to your organizational goals
Unfortunately, trust doesn’t always come naturally. Personality differences, unique expectations, negative experiences, and challenging circumstances can all stand in the way of trust. As a leader, it’s up to you to foster a culture of trust.
But how?
Be Honest
Full transparency is the foundation of trust. Being honest, even when it’s uncomfortable or when there’s bad news, clearly demonstrates that you respect your team. When you have a history of telling the truth and staying true to your word, your employees will learn that they can rely on what you say.
This transparency should apply to personal as well as professional situations, when possible. No, you don’t have to overshare about your life and struggles, but being open about who you are outside the office (or the Slack thread) allows your team to see you as a real person. When that connection is fostered, trust begins to grow.
Follow Through
Your actions matter just as much (if not more) than your words, so follow through on what you say. This includes the small stuff (like showing up for your 1-on-1s) as well as the big stuff (like delivering on a promised promotion). As you keep your commitments, your consistency will build trust within the team.
On the other hand, if you continually demonstrate that your word is meaningless, your team will quickly learn not to trust you. They probably won’t respect you, either.
Honesty and follow-through are probably the most straightforward and obvious ways to build trust. Start with these, but there are more strategies to adopt as well.
Foster Frequent (and Two-Way) Communication
Don’t leave your team in the dark. No matter what’s on the horizon — whether it’s an exciting opportunity or a challenging roadblock — share it with them.
Have you ever worked for a leader who kept all the cards to their chest? I have, and it bred a culture of paranoia, fear, and frustration. Trust was nonexistent, and my teammates and I felt continually blindsided.
Frequent communication makes your employees feel secure, even when times are tough.
Short but regular 1-on-1s are a great way to foster open communication (and they’re much preferred over those dreaded, time-sucking meetings). Plus, 1-on-1s are the perfect opportunity for two-way communication. Employees who would never speak up in a large meeting will feel more confident about discussing goals, concerns, and feedback when it’s just the two of you. In short, they’ll feel a sense of trust.
Demonstrate Vulnerability
Vulnerability isn’t just about sharing aspects of your life, but also about being willing to admit when you’ve made a mistake, need help, or simply don’t know an answer. Demonstrating vulnerability shows your team that you’re altogether human — and makes them feel safe enough to follow suit.
When vulnerability is the norm, employees have enough faith in you to be honest, ask for guidance, and follow your directives. There will be no doubts (or, at least, far fewer doubts) about your motives when you’ve proven yourself to be a vulnerable leader.
Think about who you would trust more: an open, honest leader who apologizes when necessary and asks for help when in doubt — or a leader who never admits mistakes and pretends to know it all?
Empower Your Team
Trust is a two-way street. If you want your team to trust you, first prove that you trust them. Empower them to take ownership of their work, using the experience and expertise that got them hired in the first place. And, trust them to make good decisions that ladder up to your mission and goals. (More on decision-making here!)
There is no faster way to destroy trust than by micromanaging, second-guessing, or undermining your employees. Why should they trust you if you clearly don’t trust them? Plus, these behaviors destroy confidence and increase stress.
Embrace Failure
From science to health to technology, no breakthrough is free of failure. The same is true in your industry, whatever that may be. True innovation requires taking some leaps. Before your team will think outside the box or take creative risks, they have to trust you. And to build trust, you have to treat failure as a learning experience rather than, well, failure.
When failure is punished, employees will sit passively and do what is expected of them — why take on any additional risk? But when it’s treated as a stepping stone, growth abounds.
Take a People-First Approach
People first: we believe in this so strongly that it’s one of our core values here at Saturday Drive. We also believe it feeds directly into a culture of trust. When we put our team over everything — over profit, over process, over being right — they immediately know they can trust us.
They trust us to prioritize their wellbeing. They trust us to protect their integrity. And they trust us to push their growth and advancement.
When your people are your biggest priority, they trust you through the ups and downs inherent with running a company.
Trust is a Process
As you build a healthy work culture, remember that something as meaningful as trust doesn’t happen overnight. No matter how great of a manager you are, and no matter how well everyone seems to get along, trust should never be taken for granted. Just like with your loved ones, fostering and maintaining trust in the workplace requires daily effort. Consistency makes all the difference in the world.
Every day is a new opportunity. How are you going to build trust with your team tomorrow?