A leader is an essential person in any organization. For you to be a quality leader you have to build trust amongst your followers. Where trust is built, ideas flourish, people shine and exceptional work is achieved. A leader is expected to keep promises, make changes and be accountable to the people he is leading. If you happen to be a new leader, you have to prove that you are indeed a trustworthy leader by keeping your promises. Here are some essential ways you can build trust as a leader.
Show empathy
Show people that you care about what happened before you came and assure them that you are together in that situation. Be considerate and kind and operate with a compassionate heart. Care about all people regardless of their gender, race or generation.
Operate with self-awareness
Pay attention to your actions and words. Work with integrity and self-alignment. Make promises you can keep, commit to what you can control and take accountability for their mistakes.
Engage people in conversation
When in a meeting, don’t make speeches; rather involve people in the conversation. You will then learn their what their needs are. By being present and engaging in dialogue, they will create openness, facilitate connection and embrace differences.
Be patient and open minded
A trustworthy leader asks for a chance to earn trust through patience – one who is open to changes that are about to happen and can show the right direction to take. Putting context on higher standards, policy changes and process improvements is critical to bridge building.
Committed to work
You need to recognize the value of your work and its importance. Once you are committed, you become competent at what you do. This builds up your performance trust.
Accept mistakes
As a leader, accept that you will make mistakes and take liability for the same. Be honest when you make a mistake since no one is perfect.
Keep your promises
Promises are very quick to make, but actualizing them becomes a problem. As a leader to be trusted, make promises you can keep.
See beyond self
It is not about achievement, bonus or promotion, it’s about purpose. Enable people to know how and why their work matter and the reason why they wake up in the morning.
Be thankful
They value, acknowledge and appreciate the contributions and the efforts of those they work with.
Compassionate about their work
Passion comes from an inner drive, desire and determination. It’s about contributing to the whole or making a difference. Anyone can discern a passionate leader.
Manage work and direction
Here a leader reduces bureaucracy, clear hurdles and make it easier for people to work. You set the direction by making people see the end vision in order to hit the target.
After which, as a leader you successfully portray the named qualities such as being empathetic, compassionate, thankful, keep promises, and patience, you qualify to ask for trust. With a good track record, you stand in a better position to be trusted. After attaining trust, the organization can get to the next level with a team of believers under a trusted leader.
