Building Trust - Top 10 Dos and Don'ts
Trust
has become a big issue in the world of work. Whenever I am called in
to do consulting in the workplace, often I discover some version of
lack of trust in the center of the issue. Business people are asking
the question, "How can I build trust with my workers, shareholders and
community"? Sometimes the question is, "How can I rebuild the trust I
lost"?
1.
Be
transparent. Make sure that you let people around you know your
thinking on things. Don't leave them wondering what your motivation
is-tell them.
2.
When you
say you are going to do something, do it. If you put your word on
something, follow through. Even if you promised something by a certain
time and due to circumstances beyond your control, you can't deliver,
contact the person and explain the situation. Don't just wait until
you can deliver. Keep people informed at every step.
3.
Never
say something behind someone's back you wouldn't say directly to that
person. Stephen Covey talks about defending those not present by not
engaging in gossip and actually defending a person's character and
motives when he or she is unavailable to do it himself.
4.
Let
people know what you stand for, what you will do and won't do in
certain situations and then proceed to do exactly as you said you
would.
5.
Demonstrate consistency. Your people need to know you have a level of
predictability. In order to gain trust, it is good if others can
predict with relatively accuracy and certainty what your response will
be in a given situation.
6.
Make
decisions consistent with your value system. If your value is honesty,
you must be honest. Don't decide being honest can be situational
depending upon circumstances. If your value is kindness, don't be mean
to certain folks while being kind to those you deem deserve it.
7.
Allow
people to question you and your motives without becoming defensive.
Answer questions honestly until people are satisfied or you decide to
agree to disagree. Tell others your hierarchy of priorities so they
can understand and trust your decision-making processes.
8.
Do not
ask people to do things you, yourself, would not do. Explain the
usefulness of what you ask others to do.
9.
Demonstrate competence in your areas of expertise and continuously
improve your knowledge, skills and abilities so people can know you
are good and constantly improving at what you do.
10.
Demonstrate through actions that you care about your relationships
with your people. Listen to and respect them. Acknowledge their
strengths and seek their advice on things about which they are
knowledgeable. Extend trust to your people. Don't micro manage. Let
them know you have faith in their abilities and trust them to do
what's best.
Demonstrating these behaviors will go a long way in building trust
with others. Trust is an inside out job. You must search inside
yourself and decide what type of person you want to be and then engage
in the behaviors that will prove this is indeed who you are.
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Kim
Olver is a life, relationship and executive coach. Her mission is
to help people get along better with the important people in their
lives. She teaches people how to live from the inside out by
empowering them to focus on the things they can change. She in an
internationally recognized speaker, having worked in Australia and
the continent of Africa, as well as all over the United States.
She has consulted with the NBA and other major league player
development specialists. She is the author of
Leveraging Diversity at Work
and the forthcoming book,
Relationship Empowerment. She co-authored a book with Ken
Blanchard, Les Brown, Mark Victor Hansen and Byron Katie, entitled
101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. She works with individuals,
couples, parents, social service agencies, schools, corporations
and the military--anyone who will benefit from gaining more
effective control over their lives. She has consulted on
relationships, parenting, self-development, training, leadership
development, diversity, treatment programs and management styles.
For more information about Kim go to
Coaching for Excellence
Learn more about Empowered Leadership
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