Last week I referred to Gallup’s book called, Strengths Based Leadership. In their extensive research to determine why people follow, they discovered four main reasons, the first of which is trust. In Kouzes and Posner’s book, The Leadership Challenge, their research established that the trait most people are looking for in a leader that they would willingly follow is honesty – i.e. a person they can trust. My experience and the research agree. Trust is the cornerstone for effective leadership, which means the opportunity for significant influence.

How does a person establish and maintain trust? Although a hard question to answer definitively, here are five key points:

1. Be trustworthy. This seems obvious, but it is where many people fall short. Do you keep your word? Are you a promise keeper or a promise breaker? Is integrity a word people would use to describe you? Are you diligent with this at work, but let it slip at home? Consistency is a key factor in others perceiving you as trustworthy.

2. Communicate proactively. Lack of communication is one of the quickest ways to create mistrust. When we don’t communicate, or when people have to drag information out of us, they assume we are holding something back. In addition, in the absence of information the human mind tends to assume the negative. Both outcomes will damage others’ view of you and their willingness to follow.

3. Communicate accurately. Consistently delivering flawed information is a sure way to lose people’s trust. Only rely on sources that are proven and dependable. Be careful to communicate in terms and in language that are relevant and understandable to your team. Misperception is just as dangerous as inaccurate information.

4. Demonstrate trust. This comes from the concept called the Cycle of Trust, which I referenced in an earlier blog post. It states that people tend to trust people that trust them, and tend not to trust people that do not trust them. Communicating proactively and being transparent on a consistent basis is one way to do this. Empowering your team to make decisions and use their talents is another good practice. Do not overlook the Cycle of Trust. I’ve seen it played out in my own career.

5. Associate wisely. If you associate with people who have won trust from others, you will tend to win trust as well. The opposite is also true. Those who surround you, and who you look to for advice and counsel, matter to those looking on.

OTHER BENEFITS OF TRUST

TRUST LEADS TO GREATER EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT.

Gallup’s research shows that the chances of employees being engaged at work when they do not trust the company’s leaders are just 1 in 12. When they do trust the leaders the chances are better than 1 in 2 (a six-fold increase). This is important because Gallup has also been able to show a direct link between employee engagement and company profitability. (First, Break All the Rules)

TRUST LEADS TO GREATER PRODUCTIVITY.

Trusting one another enables us to work faster together. A lack of trust causes people to hesitate as they try to figure out how we work or whether we have an “agenda.” In David Horsager’s book, The Trust Edge, he quotes from John O. Whitney, Director of the Deming Center for Quality Management at the Columbia Business school who found that, “Mistrust doubles the cost of doing business.”

Building trust can take a significant amount of time. Losing it can happen in a moment.

One last thing to remember is that once trust has been lost, it takes much longer to recover than it did to build it in the first place. Once you burn people they take a long time to forget… if they ever do.