With elections on the near horizon, political hopefuls are putting forth their best faces in an attempt to earn your vote. You’ll probably hear candidates promising something along the lines of, “a vote for me is a vote for leadership you can trust.” Unfortunately, many of us are too jaded to believe in a politician we can wholeheartedly trust anymore. But, still, we must cast a vote. And so we go with the leader in whom we have the most faith.

While it’s important to trust those who run government, it’s even more vital to have a trusting relationship with the leaders we report to on a daily basis. We need to trust our bosses. Really, truly believe in them.

According to HRMorning.com, only 48% of people in the work force say they trust the leaders in their organization. Even worse, 28% say that they distrust their leaders. The cost of distrust is enormous in terms of retention and turnover. Statistically, half of those who say they distrust their leaders will likely move on to another company. Conversely, the turnover rate drops dramatically for those who trust their boss. Trust has an intangible cost that many leaders fail to understand, respect, or value.

Steven Covey said, “Most people don’t know how to think about organizational and societal consequences of low trust because they don’t know how to quantify or measure the cost of such a so-called ‘soft’ factor as trust.”

There are several key ways that you, as a leader, can build trust with your team to ultimately create an environment of mutual loyalty, faith, and respect.

Be Yourself 24/7 Presenting yourself in a clear, steady, and consistent manner is vital to building trust. Be yourself at all times and in all situations, and you will earn the respect of those you lead. Understand that part of being strong is allowing yourself a certain degree of vulnerability. Stay true to yourself, and be honest with your staff, even when you make mistakes.
Focus on Strengths Look for the positive values of everyone on your team. Every person has weaknesses, but don’t forget that they also have attributes of strength. Identify and embrace those qualities, and learn to reinforce and build on them. Negativity can drive a team down very quickly. In the book The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard poses a simple concept of praising before mentioning areas needing change. In that way, those you lead will learn to trust that you are out to help them, support them, and guide them, rather than simply point out their shortcomings. They will trust you as a competent leader.
Let them Speak! Someone once said: The King may be naked, but pity the poor person who tells the king the truth! Don’t become a pampered monarch who can only be curtseyed to, and never, ever challenged. Encourage free and open lines of communication. Let your team speak freely about their ideas, opinions, and problems. Make sure they are comfortable and willing to discuss opposing ideas without fear of reprisals. If you let them speak, you earn their trust.
Macro-Manage Your team is not a pack of dogs that needs to be harnessed for the Iditarod. They are talented individuals better served when you refrain from micro-managing their every move. Engage your staff without focusing on the minutiae. To build trust, learn to macro-manage and give your team the freedom they have earned. Don’t do what a pseudo-leader of mine once did, spending way too much time focusing on which hotels her team stayed in and what flights they booked. Allow your team to manage the small stuff, and show them that you have faith in their abilities.
Encourage Calculated Risks Don’t discourage your team from taking risks or pushing themselves to try new things. By encouraging calculated risk-taking, you demonstrate your belief in the team’s decision-making skills.
Share the Spotlight Don’t hog the limelight or steal your team’s thunder! When possible, proudly announce team and individual achievements to the public or share those successes with colleagues and other staff. Praising your employees openly will help them trust in your character, integrity, and leadership ability.
Accept Responsibility If quotas or results fall short of expectations, stand up with your team and take responsibility as the leader. Show your people that you are understanding when failures or setbacks occur. A leader builds trust quickly when her team sees that she accepts responsibility quickly for matters that could go either way.
Protect your People The more you stand up for your staff, the more trust you build. People lose trust quickly when they feel their leader will throw them under the bus if disaster occurs. When outsiders try to undermine team members, a leader of merit stands up for her team or individuals within the group.
Follow Through In golf, we are often told about the importance of follow-through. The same applies to building trust with your team. When you say that you’re going to do something, do it! The same applies to what you say you won’t do. Don’t! You have establish a standard of sticking to your word. That’s the only way you can be trusted as the boss.
Nicole Gillespie and Leon Mann collaborated to research factors that affect trust. The pair identified three key attributes that together predicted a majority of team members’ trust towards a leader. The building blocks of trust were found to be: consulting all team members when making decisions; communicating a clear, collective vision for the future; and sharing common values with the leader.

The first two have been touched upon several times in previous blogs. The third point, sharing common values with the leader, is one I often take as a given, but have never explored in print.

It’s assumed that if a team is together, the members possess a common viewpoint, or they wouldn’t be on the team. However, that’s not always the case. When a team doesn’t share the same ideals about core issues, building trust becomes difficult, if not impossible.

For example, imagine that you are a vegan or vegetarian, but you’re in a group that has been directed to speed up the slaughtering process of cows for processed meat. Your basic values collide dramatically with the mission of the group and the choices of its leaders. How can you be trusted to put forth your best efforts? How can you have faith in your leaders to do the right thing? In this case, it’s practically impossible to build trust.

Trust is built and absorbed over time, through actions and a proven record of cooperation and integrity. It can’t be taught, directed, or dictated. In other words, if a so-called leader feels compelled to defend himself with, “Trust me, I’m your boss,” a red flag of sorts should instantly go up. Trust in leadership can’t be ordered up like a specialty pizza for delivery during a football game. The only way to earn trust is to in fact, be trustworthy. (Really!)

–Sheri Staak