Source | www.forbes.com | Dana Brownlee
This article is part of a series focused on building trust within teams.
If building trust within teams is a prerequisite for long term success, the next logical question is “How do you do it?” Here, we explore specific techniques and recommendations that leaders (and others) can use to cultivate a high trust team environment. First, let’s break down the elements of trust.
“The Workplace Therapist” Brandon Smith uses this formula to define trust:
Trust Formula
CREDIT: BRANDON SMITH
Smith insists that while authenticity and vulnerability are critical elements for engendering trust, that combination is significantly enhanced or diminished by the amount of credibility that leader maintains. Furthermore, the multiplication suggests that if either credibility or (authenticity + vulnerability) is non existent (e.g. 0), there is no trust. Smith contends, “If people think you’re phony, trust goes to zero. If the leader isn’t authentic or vulnerable, trust goes to zero. All elements are critical.” He urges leaders to lean into these trust building concepts by being honest, asking for help, not pretending to have all the answers and role modeling desired behavior. While these might sound like fairly simple recommendations, leaders often struggle to put them into practice. While there’s no single tried and true recipe for building trust, here are some highly recommended practical techniques.
