Earning Trust in Leadership

How do you trust your teammates?

Most leaders I have interacted with face challenges on relating well with teammates. Relating well is a process. It's not an overnight thing. The bottom line for a growing relationships? Trust.

So, how do we communicate trust? 

On one occasion, I asked Divine, "Do you think our teammates are trusting us and our leadership with them?" And she responded this way, "Do you trust them?"  This question struck me to think twice, make an assessment of myself if I truly trust my teammates. I agree with the principle that you reap what you sow. This is s real in my journey of trusting relationship. 

We can trust our teammates by delegating tasks and allowing them to fail, not easily rescuing them as long as we journey with them. We are communicating to them that they have the potential to do an assigned task. We engage with them. We don't worry for whatever would be the outcome because we know them. We value them more than the result of the task.

I had a teammate who did an excellent job in planning for a certain project to reach out to the potential leaders on campus. I know his capacity to plan strategically, but I have a glimpse of his leadership style that may set him to failure, but I do give feedback and assure him that the working relationship with teammates, the process of managing or leading a project is what's important, not the project itself. Days passed by and the team was not able to reach the goal of reaching the number of potential leaders on campus, but what encouraged him a lot is the team's effort and journey together to see the goal reached. We focused on reaching the goal as we walked together side by side, learning from one another. This is relational leadership. We grow trusting one another as we believe in each one's potential that contributes to the goal. We don't want to just "use" our teammates in order to achieve our goal that we alone would be glorified.

To gain trust, be trustworthy.

It is not demanded. It is earned. We need to work on it by investing trust to our teammates and those we can work with along the way. We need to assume the best for people.