Effective leaders must have trust. Because if you don’t, you hinder your team's performance.

When you don’t trust your team, this is how your team members are experiencing you:

 “My manager doesn’t trust that I am capable enough.”

“My manager doesn’t trust that I will do a good enough job.”

“My manager doesn’t trust that I will do just as how they do it.”

This lack of trust is how you unwittingly sabotage your own success and undermine your team's potential.

The impact of lack of trust is that this stifles learning, disengages employees, and inhibits the development of crucial skills like problem-solving and conflict resolution.

A lack of trust reflects that you are not empowering your team. And you undermine your own leadership effectiveness.  

Trust is the cornerstone of exceptional leadership. It is foundational for fostering autonomy, skill development, and a sense of ownership among team members, which are essential for long-term success in any workplace.

 Managers, if you want to become successful in leading your team to better performance, it’s time to start developing the skill of trust.

 

Are You Ready To Lead With Trust?

Trust is not a skill you can pick up overnight. Trust requires actively working towards and cultivating it every day.

"Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair."

In your journey to develop the skill of trust, the best place to start is to build trust with yourself. After all, how can you expect to develop trust with others if you do not first trust yourself?

 

How Leaders Can Cultivate Trust Within Themselves

1. Good leaders develop self-awareness To develop trust within yourself, you must first develop awareness around not only your limitations but your capabilities as well. Reflect on times when you not only failed but where you succeeded as well.
2. Good leaders are compassionate with themselves Trusting yourself does not mean you believe you will always be perfect. It means you trust that you can learn from your mistakes and grow. Being compassionate with yourself and your past mistakes is the first step in learning to improve in the future.
3. Good leaders set realistic goals Often, when you set goals too high for yourself, you set yourself up for disappointment and failure, which diminishes your ability to trust yourself. Setting challenging yet realistic goals for yourself allows you to achieve your goals and will enable you to develop more trust within yourself.
4. Good leaders honor and follow through on their commitments When you consistently follow through on your commitments, you provide yourself with more proof that you are trustworthy and reliable.

And once you have developed trust within yourself, it’s time to build your trustworthiness with others.

How Leaders Can Cultivate Trust Within Others

1. Good leaders communicate openly By communicating openly, you not only show that you are trustworthy and reliable, but you also show your team that you trust that they are trustworthy enough to share information with.
2. Good leaders are consistent When you are consistent with your team, they know what they can expect from you, which leads to more trust. Develop self-awareness around areas where you can improve your consistency as a manager.
3. Good leaders delegate responsibilities The best way to show your team that you trust their decisions and abilities is to start delegating more responsibilities to them. Not only will they develop new skill sets, but they’ll also develop their confidence.
4. Good leaders acknowledge the success of others Most importantly, when your team members have a success, acknowledge and celebrate it! No success is too small!

Leaders, incorporating more trust into your leadership style leads to better team performance!

So, if you want to leap to the next level of leadership, ask yourself: what's currently holding you back from fully trusting your team?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Leaders: Do You Want To Elevate Your Leadership Style?

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About Mireille Bergraaf

Mireille Bergraaf MCC ESIA is an internationally accredited ICF Master Coach (MCC) with over 10+ years of experience in coaching, leadership, and spirituality. She specializes in empowering leaders to cultivate empathy and compassion through coaching skills.

Mireille is the founder of Dutch Leadership Development (DLD), a leadership development company that works at the intersection of spirituality and business and focuses on cultivating coaching cultures within businesses.

Mireille is an advocate for the integration of spirituality in businesses to promote empathy, compassion, and integrity in teamwork.

She guides companies to cultivate coaching cultures within their organizations. Coaching cultures promote trust, open communication, welcoming challenges for growth, embracing diversity, team engagement, supporting creativity, and thinking beyond individual interests to contribute positively to the world.