I have been working with several leaders and their teams recently on the topic of building trust.  For the most part, the teams I work with do quite well on this topic, and they are highly productive, but my question always is “What would be different on your team if you completely eliminated any and all doubt or mistrust from your team?”  People usually respond by saying “We would get a great deal more done during a day!”

Think about this for one minute.  When you don’t trust another team member, this is usually manifested in the following behaviors:

1) Withholding key information

2) Avoidance

3) Gossip

4) A reluctance to ask that person for help

5) Resentment

6) Lack of communication

7) Leaving certain people on your team out of the “loop”

Time spent worrying about all of the above

What happens in even the most seasoned teams is that trust issues usually ends back up on the leader’s desk.  He or she spends valuable time dealing with employees who gossip, back stab or who don’t communicate effectively.  At the end of the day, the leader is often exhausted, yet there is one thing that is so important to know…as a leader, if your team does not trust each other, then to rebuild trust starts with you.   The first thing I recommend you do is to look at your own behaviors and ask yourself if you are engaging in ANY of the following behaviors:

1) Shooting the messenger

2) Playing favorites

3) Gossip

4) Poor communication

5) Arrogance

6) Closed-mindedness

7) Unwillingness to listen

Harsh tone

9) Unwillingness to see your own blind spots

10) Saying one thing and doing another

I could certainly list more behaviors, but these are the big ones.   The best approach is to perform both a self assessment and a 360 Degree Review to find out if your team spots any of these behaviors in your leadership style (remember…their perception is your reality!)  From there, you will want to begin to implement a few key strategies to open up discussion and to begin building trust with your team:

1) Design a strong communication plan.  Make sure that you are over-communicating.  Don’t make any assumptions  that something is crystal clear when it may in fact be quite muddy.

2) Begin the process of open debate.  Allow your team members to openly discuss with you the issues that they feel might be holding your team back from being as successful as possible.

3) Walk your talk.  Do what you said you were gong to do, and practice underpromising and overdelivering.

4) Establish team agreements.   Team agreements should be established which describe exactly which behaviors you want your team to live out loud and which are not tolerated. As an example, gossip is a behavior that can greatly hurt team trust while learning how to engage in open debate can build trust.

5) Design a rock solid accountability process.  Once you have started the process of building trust and living by team agreements, there is no turning back.  You have to be willing to hold people accountable by implementing both rewards for achievement and consequences when the trust process fails.  It’s just that simple.

If you are a leader who may be challenged by trust on your team, I invite you to contact me at bea@beafields.com to start the 360 Degree Feedback Process or for a team evaluation.  I also encourage you to pick up a copy of EDGE! A Leadership Story as a way to learn more about how the executive coaching process works.