What do your employees do after you leave the room?
Do they charge forward, eagerly tackle the next task, as they champion your company and your cause?
OR
Do they roll their eyes?
Moan, groan and complain?
Slog their way to the next ‘to do’ on the list?
Do you know? Do you dare to ask?
We’ve seen it over and over, the boss thinks things are clear cut and straight forward but the employees tell a completely different story.
Very often it boils down to one thing. A small word that carries a lot of weight:
Trust
Do your employees trust you? And if you’re being honest …do you trust them?
It’s a leap of faith, when you think about it.
You go out on a limb and hire a stranger who promises they can do what you need them to do. You pour time and resources into training them and then cut them loose, hoping and praying they are good for their word.
And then it begins…
The process of developing trust.
Unfortunately, many leaders aren’t aware of the subtle ways their actions lead to employees not trusting them. And how this affects the bottom line.
But it can make all the difference. Because when employees trust their boss, they
will be fiercely loyal and personally invested in the company’s success. They are the ones who go above and beyond because they know you believed in them.
And they don’t want to disappoint you.
But trust has to be earned.
Brene Brown gives a recipe for earning trust in her podcast, “The Anatomy of Trust” . (It is SO GOOD! We highly recommend that EVERYONE listen to this - at least twice!) She explains that trust is built in small moments in which the following are demonstrated:
Boundaries: Clear and respectful of your boundaries and your employee’s boundaries
Reliability: Do what you say you will do consistently
Accountability: Own your mistakes, apologize and make amends
Vault: Keep information confidential
Integrity: Choose right over easy and live your values
Non-judgement: There is no judgment on yourself or others for needing help.
Generosity: Assume another’s actions were well intended and check in with them about it.
What grade would you get if you evaluated yourself on these actions?
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