Kashbox Coach Note: Corporate Coaching
A consistent outcome from many large employee surveys tells us that business leaders are among the least trusted professions in today’s culture. Overall, trust in leadership is the main concern of employees in the workplace.
Gallup’s research further confirms this by showing that leaders who don’t focus on their people have the trust of only 9% of their staff. Leaders who prioritize people foster a 73% trust level in their employees. This is a stunning statistic that exposes a marked difference in leadership mindsets.
Trust has long been considered a powerful trait that enables leaders to succeed. People who trust their leader are willing to follow them. They are more willing to engage in their duties, make strong efforts to benefit their organization, prize the quality of their work, and feel like their efforts have value. Conversely, a leader who is not trusted can never overcome large, inevitable pitfalls.
Trust is a decisive difference maker in personal and collective prosperity, so it makes sense for leaders to raise their trust quotient as high as possible. You may ask where you should start. Gallup’s work indicates that a genuine focus on people is the primary leadership mindset needed to establish and build trust. Why don’t more leaders pursue this? They may not grasp its gravity or understand the four basic elements.
A Helping Hand
Employees generally want to succeed by doing good work. They want to know what’s expected of them, how to complete their tasks, and can get them done well. Due to the complexity and volatility, your people almost always need your help.
People simply want to be provided with what they need to succeed. Being in the trenches, most people accurately know what it takes to get their work done, and often better than their leader.
As a leader, you are responsible for providing the resources your people need to complete assignments. Funding, supplies, training, corporate coaching, or equipment may be required. More manpower and/or time might be necessary. Effective decision-making is a resource people also feel they need.
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Sometimes, the softer management skills meet the biggest needs. Your people may require further leadership development training or corporate coaching. They may hope to be mentored to grow and develop their skills. Sometimes, a positive attitude is what people want most when times get tough. Being observant and engaging will allow you to see the needs.
All of these are ways you can help. Remember that if your people fail, so do you. Helping them is thus one of your top imperatives. When people are consistently helped, they will know they’re being taken care of. This fosters security and confidence, which builds their trust in you.
A Spirit of Appreciation
Everyone needs to know they matter and that their work is valuable to someone. Each of your people seeks purpose, whether they recognize it or not.
Being valued for who you are and your actions is critical to self-worth and self-esteem. Without these, no one is motivated about his or her duties, let alone succeeds at them.
If you show your people that you appreciate them, you tell them they are worth valuing. You show them they are important to the organization and to you as their leader. Your employees will respond by valuing their relationship with you and, in turn, offering you their trust.
You can demonstrate that you value someone simply by showing an interest in them and their lives. Most people generally respond well to this, but only if it’s sincere. Faking it will eventually be spotted, and the outcome will be worse than not attempting.
Get to know your employees, their interests, and their aspirations. You can value people by understanding what they need and caring enough to provide it if possible. You’re telling them they are important enough to step up and offer the help only someone at your level can provide.
Another important way to value people is to acknowledge their successes and celebrate with them. In the Entrepreneur Magazine article 9 Tests Every Leader Must Pass, Alan Zimmerman describes the importance of highlighting your people’s success and rewarding it appropriately. These are powerful ways to value people and help them feel needed. Their trust in you will grow if you are authentic.
Working one-on-one with a corporate coaching program can improve the soft skills of leaders who lack the ability to connect authentically.
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A Life of Integrity
Trustworthiness is strongly portrayed when a leader behaves, speaks, and responds with integrity. Leaders who act honestly and genuinely are trusted to do the right thing. When you are beyond reproach, people know your actions and decisions are not selfishly motivated and thus don’t need to be suspected. If you live out truth and transparency, holding yourself accountable to everyone, your people offer you their trust.
Integrity also means giving of yourself for the benefit of your people. Trustworthy leaders place a higher priority on the welfare of those they lead. People know they are in good hands, with a noble cause underlying their efforts. Often, that requires courage, and this is another trustworthy trait.
A Heart of Humility
Leaders who treat their people as more important than themselves earn much trust. They give credit for successes rather than take it. They bear the heat for the disappointments rather than blame their staff. Humble leaders also praise their people for their accomplishments and allow them their chance in the spotlight.
If you seek feedback and ideas from your staff and allow them to partner with you rather than be ruled by you, you will earn their trust. Your people will feel they contribute and have the freedom to use their skills. This practice builds teamwork and unity, two themes people yearn for yet, statistically, rarely experience.
Leaders who admit they can always learn from others show openness to value and trust their people. This generates trust in return. In the American Management Association article 5 Ways A Leader Can Build A Culture Of Trust, Rich Eich points out that a leader who admits their mistakes displays humility. Employees are further encouraged to trust you if you show how you learn from your mistakes. Your genuineness is displayed, and people sense a greater connection with you.
In essence, the level of trust you earn from your people is a measure of the connection they feel they have with you. By making your people a top priority, you’ll build higher levels of trust in your organization and find more ways to succeed over and over. Best of all, implementing them costs you very little yet gains you very much. It’s the best ROI you’ll ever have!
Hire executive or corporate coaching to refine these soft skills to improve your leadership potential.
Creator of the KASHBOX: Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Habits
Helping You Realize Your Potential
I help people discover their potential, expand and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve a higher degree of personal and professional success and create a plan that enables them to balance the profit motives of their business with the personal motives of their lives.
