Why trust is foundational to building a successful team
Learning to trust people and instil a level of trust in others are skills that every leader should learn. Trust is fundamental to a successful team, at any level. There will never be a scenario in which one person can do every element of a job, that’s why teams exist in the first place. Working with others encourages and inspires us, it helps us to work to the best of our ability. Having a certain level of trust between you and the team around you helps tenfold.
Here’s why trust is foundational to building and growing a successful team.
Trust is liberating and empowering.
Trust is the belief that others will do what they say they will do and that others can be relied upon to deliver on their commitments.
The old saying “trust but verify” has been a common refrain in business for many years. This approach may sound like it makes sense, but it's actually quite dysfunctional. When we trust people to do what they say they will do, there's no need to verify. If we don't trust them, then why are they still working with us? The very act of micromanaging or double-checking can be perceived as a lack of faith and confidence by employees, which negatively impacts how they feel about their manager and their work environment.
Trust means delegating tasks to others knowing they will deliver the results you want.
Delegating tasks to others is a good way to help them learn new skills and responsibilities, while you focus on the parts of your job you enjoy most and that suit your natural talents.
But delegating the right task to the right person can be tricky. You need to ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, as well as their performance expectations. You also need to put in place a process for evaluating work outcomes, so that problems can be identified and rectified in a timely manner.
When people see managers taking an interest in their work, they are more likely to respond positively. Trusting team members with responsibility is one way of demonstrating this interest and helping them feel valued.
Trust makes it easier to be open and honest with your team, which helps build relationships and resolve problems more quickly.
Being open to criticism is a sign of strength, not weakness. When you receive constructive feedback—whether it's about yourself or about your team—you can use that opportunity to improve. If someone raises an issue, the first thing you should do is thank them for bringing it to light so you can work on resolving it together. Encourage everyone on your team to adopt this approach!
Openness builds trust, but trust also increases openness. That's because when there's mutual trust within a team, people are more willing to share ideas and admit mistakes or weaknesses. In turn, that helps build an environment where people feel free to share their thoughts and ideas as they come up instead of waiting until they've "perfected" something before sharing it with others. Openness is essential if you want your team members to feel comfortable working together towards a shared goal (and helping each other along the way).
Trust is the foundation for effective communication and collaboration, which is key to building a successful team.
The absence of trust has a cost. It's a drain on productivity, morale and retention. Employees in an environment plagued by distrust are likely to demonstrate:
Decreased engagement
More stress and burnout
A reluctance to be honest or candid during meetings or conversations
Low self-esteem because of negative feedback or repeated organizational changes
Reduced productivity and efficiency
In contrast, employees who trust the people they work with tend to feel happier, more engaged, more willing to collaborate and more productive. They're also less likely to leave the company voluntarily for other opportunities (and thus saving their employer money in recruiting costs).
People who trust each other tend to feel happier in their work environment.
Trust is a form of respect. When you trust your teammates, you’re telling them that you believe in their abilities and you know they can handle the responsibilities they’ve been assigned. This can help build loyalty among your employees and create a more positive work environment.
Trust is a two-way street. In order to build trust among your team, it must start with you as a leader who people understand to be trustworthy themselves. To foster trust among peers, encourage employees to hold each other accountable for following through on tasks when necessary.
Trust makes team members feel valued and increases confidence among those responsible for completing projects or tasks on time and according to the standards that have been set by the management team. It's important for managers or supervisors not only to convey their expectations but also to show appreciation when someone does well so that other members of the group will be inspired by these actions too!
Trusting others boosts your productivity and efficiency, as you're no longer spending all your time micromanaging every task.
Trust is important for a few reasons. First, trusting others allows you to focus on your own work and not waste time micromanaging every task. If you know your teammates are trustworthy, you can delegate tasks to them and then go about doing the work that's most important for you to do. Second, when you trust others, it relieves stress because you don't have to worry about what they're going to do or how they're going to perform at their job. Finally, trusting others means that they'll be more likely to return the favour by trusting you in turn.
Letting go of control and trusting others to get things done is hard -- but it's worth it. And it will pay off personally and professionally.
As a leader, you're going to face many challenges in life, but you can get through them by trusting yourself and others. Trusting your intuition is a powerful tool that can help you make the right decisions and avoid mistakes. Trusting is not easy, but it will pay off for you personally and professionally.
Trust is hard to earn, easy to lose. It's an investment and an act of faith, but it's not blind faith: trust doesn't mean letting your guard down completely or putting all your eggs in one basket. If something feels off about someone or something (like a team member who won't collaborate with another team member), don't ignore it; deal with it head-on instead of sweeping it under the rug.
Trusting others makes everyone's life easier, so start doing it!
Trust is a two-way street. As you put more trust in others, they’ll put more trust back in you. Similarly, if you don’t trust others, they won’t trust you. You can use this to your advantage by being the first to go out on a limb and show that you have faith in your team members.
It helps to start with small acts of trust until you build up your confidence. Actively choose to let people do their jobs without checking up on them, and give them space to make mistakes (and learn from them). When it comes time to leave someone alone with an important project or task, remind yourself that they are capable of handling it—they wouldn’t be part of your team otherwise!
If any of this goes against the grain, remember: trusting others makes everyone’s life easier and less stressful in the long run (even yours!).
Getting to know the people on your team helps foster trust.
Knowing that someone shares your values and interests can nurture trust. People with similar goals and ambitions can also foster trust. This is important because it helps you anticipate how the other person might react or behave in certain situations. Similarly, if you share a sense of humour with someone, it’s easier to trust them because you know they aren’t going to take things too seriously all the time—and vice versa. Furthermore, when people have a similar sense of priorities, they tend to trust each other.