Introduction
Stephen M.R. Covey once wrote, that without trust, we cannot truly collaborate or coordinate the work of a team, at best we have to only settle for cooperation. This famous quote truly captures the essence of authentic leadership.
If you are in a leadership role, the pressure of results can often get to you. However, this pressure should never transform you into a machine that exists to merely extract work from others. To work alongside the people in your team, your business unit and your organization, you need to build a healthy relationship with them, coordinate and collaborate with them to rise your enterprise to new heights.
One of the top qualities that distinguishes the best leaders from the crowd is how trustworthy are they considered by their people.As a leader, hard work and business acumen will push you to great limits. But, to reach the pinnacle of success with grace, having strong leadership qualities is a must.
Putting the Best Foot Forward
As a leader, you must make trust the norm of your organization. A recent study has found that trust is the most significant factor that attracts people to any organization. In a study, job aspirants had been asked to answer some simple questions regarding what they are looking for in an organization. What is surprising is that salary or autonomy is ranked lower than having a healthy work atmosphere where employees can trust each other and more importantly the leadership of the organization.
As the world is moving forward and work dynamics are rapidly evolving, people are looking forward to a better work environment and are fighting hard for it. To survive in this progressive atmosphere, the core values of most companies need to be upgraded and more than that these core values need to be honestly implemented and followed by all means.
Pushing people to the limits and creating a hostile work environment to get people to respect those in the upper positions through fear and intimidation will not work with the evolving workforce.
A lot of organizations are educating people about how building a trustworthy and safe environment is the most advantageous position to have a successful business. These organisations create engaging workshops that can bring employees and employers closer by getting aware of the importance of trust in any form of communication.
You can help introduce these positive changes in your organization through these workshops and improve your leadership skills. After all, it falls on you as a leader to initiate the steps to bridge the gaps of communication and trust between every individual in your organization.
Be a Person of your word.
Let trust be one of the most significant assets for your organization, and you will see many more growth possibilities evolving. It shouldn’t just be a gimmick that is printed on company brochures. It should be something that spontaneously reflects in your organizational culture.
One of the broadest ways people perceive a person or an organization to be trustworthy is to see if they act in congruence with what they say. As a leader, you should be an example of congruency for your people to follow. Keep your promises not only to the clients but also to every person working alongside you. Be open to receive feedback as nothing builds more trust among people than having a leader whois open to criticism and take responsibility for course correction along with his people.
Building trust is not a complicated thing, it is the essence of any successful and long-running relationship, we just need to have the clarity of values and the commitment to live by them
Conclusion
Leadership is a form of art, and to be a successful artist of leadership, you need to start with being true to yourself, then to your people and to the vision of your organization. So ask yourself now,
What do you think needs to be done to growthe trust factor in your team ? in your business unit ? in your organization ?
What has stopped you from doing these things already ?
What needs to change in you that will allow trust to grow and prosper in your people ?
What changes need to happen beyond you that will allow trust to grow and prosper in your people ?
Once you answer these questions, work with your starategic team to create a plan of action and review the progress and challenges on timely basis.
