Have you been on a team that had huge success, accomplished great things and had fun doing it? What made it different than any other team? One of the biggest reasons that a team will have success or failure comes down to trust. When the leader takes the time to build affinity with the team and understand who they are, the trust begins to grow. This isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. Being consistent with actions and words will start to build the trust within the team. A leader should support their team in all situations, give them credit for success, give them opportunities and support them during tough times. Having that foundation of trust is key to be able to challenge each other and ensure great outcomes as a team.
Let’s talk about what an environment without trust looks like. It is extremely difficult to get things done. You are second guessing your decisions and trying to constantly see what the other people are doing. You can’t rely on each other and it feels as if the sharks are circling around waiting for you to fail. Competition becomes the most important thing above everything else. There is no forward progress, it is all about survival of the fittest at that point. Who will survive and who will be left behind? These are the reasons that people will leave companies because they don’t trust their manager or each other and don’t accomplish anything.
Which of these scenarios would you prefer to work in? What type of culture do you want to create as a leader? This answer comes down to you and what decision you make. The leader drives the culture of the team. You can choose to make it great or make it miserable. Remember the great experiences you had when you were on that team that had success? What did that leader do to ensure there was trust? Did you learn any lessons that you can apply to your own leadership? Here is an article on How to Build Trust by Art Petty that gives you some ideas on where to start. Begin implementing some of these ideas and then incorporate others as you grow as a leader. This is journey to become the best leader that you can be and you need to give yourself time to make that happen.