How to build trust
As a leader or manager, it’s important to gain the trust of the people you work with. But how do you become trusted? First of all, remember that being trusted is an outcome of what you put in but you don’t have direct control of it, it is others’ responses to you that tell you whether or not you have built their trust. To build trust, we have six top tips:
Be authentic
show up as real actual ‘you’, the human. Showing your strengths and your vulnerabilities, being more ‘what you see is what you get’ is more likely to get people seeing you as trustworthy. When people are inauthentic, we can sense it because we can subconsciously pick up when others are hiding things or suppressing emotions.
Be consistent
Consistency of behaviour, of messages, of what you say to whom and linking your words to your actions. Do what you say you will do. In being consistent, you will be perceived to have integrity. Which then leads to people believing you are trustworthy.
Be open and honest
This includes being honest about your own agenda, what you would want to get from a particular situation and encouraging others to do be honest about their needs and wants. It is also important to acknowledge your mistakes and give others feedback as well as requesting it.
“Be open to learning, actively look for opportunities to learn, don’t try to be perfect.”
Paul Brewerton — YC Co Founder
Develop a ‘growth mindset’
Be open to learning, actively look for opportunities to learn, don’t try to be perfect. Instead, show others that you are willing to learn and that you want to keep learning. None of us is the finished article after all.
Be appreciative
Be appreciative of others’ efforts without being sycophantic. People appreciate being appreciated and it’s more likely to lead to them reciprocating to appreciate you. And with that will come a greater sense of understanding and a quicker path to mutual trust.
Trust others
Finally, learn to trust others before they’ve earned your trust. If you believe in others’ skill or competence, they are more likely to demonstrate that skill or competence. If you can trust others in a measured way, while still having some checks and controls built in, the more likely your trust will be reciprocated (the logic goes: if you’re trusting me, I must be trustworthy, which means you probably are too).