Trust

Trust is a brilliant thing. Trust people to perform and they are much more likely to knock it out of the park. When you are trusted you see a lot fewer of the bad behaviours that can make your working life tougher than it needs to be.

So building up trust is a super power, and accelerating that build-up really compounds the benefits.

It’s simple, but not always easy, to build up trust when you have the power. When you are the boss, you can just ask people to do something and tell them you trust them to achieve it. The bit that comes next, which can be hard, is that you need to let them go away and do the thing. No backseat driving or looming over the shoulder. Instead, figure out a plan to check in at the start, and stick with it.

Then just keep doing that!

On the flip side, where you don’t have the power, it’s about this fundamental statement. “Do what you said you’d do, when you said you’d do it”.

Both parts are key, one without the other is useless for building trust. Doing less or being late will both erode trust, and can do so quickly. It’s harder to build up trust than it is to lose it.

Again, this is simple to say, but might not be easy to do. You both need to have a strong understanding of the “what” and the “when”, and clear agreement on what these look like.

You need to keep doing it. Start with small things, do what you said you’d do, when you said you’d do it. Do it again. And again.

Consistency is key, a bedrock to the formation of trust.

With trust you’ll do more, you will be happier, your org will be happier and you’ll achieve more!