10 Ways to Cultivate Trust With Your Team
The fundamental role of a leader is to build trust, bear pain and bring hope. These are the three primary colors of leadership.
This week I was reminded once again of the crucial and irreplaceable element of trust. It is the least common denominator in all leadership contexts, the fuel by which the leadership engine runs. It is impossible to lead effectively over the long haul when trust is absent. In Patrick Lencioni’s helpful book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he lists the major destructive factors among team dynamics: fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results. But the keystone trait that undergirds all the others is the absence of trust.
As one of my professors in my doctoral program taught us, “The absence of trust is ultimately the absence of grace.” Conversely speaking then, building and deepening trust is the single greatest thing leaders must cultivate within and among their team in order to be healthy, fruitful, and effective.
Albert Winseman, in his book Growing An Engaged Church, wrote that every person who walks into your church is asking two questions: Am I valued? and Do I have something to contribute? These questions get to the heart of the matter. But I would offer that these are not just questions limited to churchgoers. They are asked by every person who serves on any team in any capacity.
I don’t think anyone would argue with what I’ve offered thus far. Every well-meaning leader I’ve met believes trust is important. And every leader I’ve talked to wants people to feel valued and to allow space for collaboration, participation, and contribution with their team. But how do we actually cultivate trust? And, practically speaking, how can we deepen trust on our teams?
It’s important to drill down further and consider how we can cultivate health in specific and practical ways, first by self-assessment. I offer the following ten elements – along with reflective questions – for self-evaluation.
[1] Value and love: how do I treat the people on my team (i.e. my words, posture, presence, tone, affirmation, availability, etc.)? Is it a judgment-free zone? Which is more important to me: healthy relationships or accomplishing more? Are our team meetings and interactions safe spaces for people to really share what they are thinking and feeling?
[2] Participation: how much do I actually include and empower our team to make decisions? Am I collaborating or simply informing them of decisions already made?
[3] Congruence: how much do my words match my actions? Where might I be out of alignment? How would I even know? And who can hold me accountable to make sure I am being a congruence leader - and congruent human?
[4] Consistency: is there evidence of results in my leadership over an extended period of time? Do people have confidence in my ability to lead?
[5] Self-differentiation: How much of my identity is wrapped up in me being the leader? Being a “successful” leader? Ultimately, which direction are the arrows pointing: toward me, toward our team or toward our mission?
[6] Vulnerability: how vulnerable have I been (and how vulnerable am I willing to be) in order to model what a safe space looks like on the team? When others are vulnerable how have I responded? Am I capable of readily admitting “I don’t know” and verbalizing phrases such as “I’m sorry”?
[7] Failure: How do I respond to risks and failures, individually and as a team? How much does it define who I am as a leader or who we are as a team?
[8] Truth-telling: How am I at telling the truth – and embracing it – even if it stings? Am I actually telling the whole truth or am I telling the truth, plus or minus ten percent?
[9] Unity: how much are we pursuing unity (not uniformity) as a team? Am I willing to let go of my personal preference(s) if it means we will be better off as a team in the long run? Do dissenting voices have a valued role among our team or are they hushed, ignored or swept aside?
[10] Clarity: How clear and compelling is our vision, priorities, what we care about? How do we truly know if we are being clear in our communication?
In closing, I submit three additional questions for leaders to consider:
Why should people follow me?
What gives me the right to lead others?
Because I have power, who, in turn, is flourishing?
It takes courage to ask these questions of ourselves and of our leadership; and it requires even more courage to ask others these questions about our leadership. But because trust is so crucial to the process, we can’t afford not to ask them. Ironically, we may find that if we ask these questions of ourselves and others with a humble, inquisitive, and courageous tone and posture on a consistent basis, trust among our team will deepen.
J.R. Briggs is the Founding Director of Kairos Partnerships, an organization committed to helping leaders who want to get better. He and his team work with leaders through coaching, consulting, speaking, writing, teaching, and spiritual direction. He’s also the author and contributor to 13 books and dozens of articles on leadership, ministry, writing, and spiritual formation.