Leadership Brilliance™ Tips

Engaging People & Growing Trust

Trust is a complex subject. Some people believe trust is conditional and therefore you can't trust everybody. The truth is that is more likely that this belief—of not trusting others—has more to do with us than it does with them.

We could list many reasons why people don’t trust, yet there is more to be gained by looking at what creates trust. People trust individuals, teams, and even organizations that demonstrate:

- Respect
- Reliability and consistency
- Authentic confidence (not just ego confidence)
- The ability to listen and be responsive
- The ability to honor what they say or promise
- Boundaries and priorities
- Willingness to be open and direct (not talking with someone else)
- Responsibility for mistakes
- Appreciation for the contributions of others

Think of trust as an action not as a destination. Trust is something another person gives—to receive it you must be trustworthy. Try focusing on three things when you are interacting with someone, these include: being respectful, credible and dependable. These three leadership qualities will help you grow trust, which will improve engagement on your teams. This may require learning more about how others define and perceive respectful interactions as well as how to communicate effectively in order to be consistent.