Proven ways to earn trust of others
The most successful leaders are those who earned the trust of others. These are few techniques which John Rossman (has adapted them from Michael Hyatt’s blog) and shared in his book ‘The Amazon Way’.
1. Open your kimono.
Learn to take accountability and admit faults — not recklessly or in a way that lets people exploit you, but rather in a way that demonstrates honesty and pursuit of improvement. Be willing to admit your own failures. If you put up a wall around yourself, your team will, too.
2. Take the hit.
When bad thing happen, resist the temptation to point the finger. As leader of a team, you need to accept responsibility for both the good and the bad. When your team members see that you are willing to take the blame even for mistakes that are not directly your fault, they will start to let go of fear and begin to trust you.
3. Build up your team members.
This is the opposite of taking the hit. Whenever appropriate, make sure you praise your team members in front of their peers and superiors. Never try to take sole credit for something good that your team did.
4. Ditch the leash.
Allow your team members freedom to explore new ideas and to be creative. If people feel that you are micro-managing them, they will stop trusting you. Make room for failure and, more importantly, the opportunity to learn from failure.
5. Accept confrontation
Fighting is not good, but neither is false agreement. When there is a difference of opinion, promote open discussion. Explore solutions with the intent to solve problems. If disagreement never occurs, it’s a warning sign that your team is afraid of telling you the truth.
6. Find the value in each person.
We all have weaknesses, but we also have strengths. Everyone brings something different to the table. Find what is unique in each individual and use that unique strength for the good of the team.
