3 Keys to Establishing A Framework of Trust Through Transformational Leadership

Trust is an evolving and revolving shield on the battlefield of organizational pressures. It’s tested by conflict, dialogue, and accountability. It’s strengthened through transparency, vulnerability, and the wealth of knowledge and experience that comes from the diversity and strengths of a team united in purpose. Trust is the missing factor resulting in missed organizational and business targets, decreasing levels of retention, and disillusionment with mission, vision, and values. Leader, trust is an important part of embracing your call. Together, let’s explore why by defining trust and diving into what it looks like to build from a firm foundation of trust.

Trust is an evolving and revolving shield on the battlefield of organizational pressures.

Defining Trust in the Face of Challenges

A 2023 Gallup report highlights this statistic. Only about 23% of employees in the United States strongly agree that they trust the leadership of the organizations they work for. Click here to open a new tab and access this report. Contributing to this lack of trust is the perception that leaders don’t understand or take into account challenges like the need for employees to be able to have a healthy work-life balance, manager squeeze, and the associated new teams, tighter budgets, and expanded responsibilities. Also included within these pressures is the lack of the kind of strategic plans needed to facilitate relationship building, communication, and collaboration in workplace settings that are either becoming increasingly hybrid or where hybridization is becoming an increasing employee expectation.

Ultimately, trust is an ever-changing and evolving structure that is either strengthened or eroded by context and the relationships forged in that context. Organizational culture has the power to contribute to these relationships positively. Success is what happens when iron sharpens iron.

It is not enough to define trust by deficiency. Embracing a culture of trust means creating a culture and opportunities inside of that cultural sphere where employees are first seen as members of a team on a mission with you as the leader and the organization as a whole. It also means adopting a strengths-based approach where each team member is seen by you and the other members of the team from a vantage point of what these strengths are. As the leader of the team, this is also an area that will provide you with greater insights into how to elevate the people around you by nurturing their God-given talents.

Building From a Solid, Foundational Framework of Trust

This framework of value contributes to the perception of being understood. It also asks of you and of each member of your team a dedication to positive vulnerability. This positive vulnerability also contributes to the creation of the foundational framework of trust.

Keys to Trust

As a leader, authenticity and transparency are important to establishing the framework of trust. These 3 keys help you communicate these to your team:

Follow through on what you say.
Speak positive and uplifting words to others.
Show integrity.

Follow Through on What You Say.

The best indicator for the kinds of expectations your team is setting for you is your track record of past performance. Realistic goal-setting contributes to the consistent fulfillment of your responsibilities to your team and your ability to keep your word. This correlation is true also of unrealistic goal-setting. Clearly identifying what you can and cannot do, what resources are available to you in helping you to achieve these goals, including time, people, and items. Your likelihood of success in establishing the framework of trust exponentially multiplies as you make the choices and decisions that build a track record of follow-through.

Speak Positive and Uplifting Words to Others.

Your team is a key indicator of you as a leader. But maybe not in the way that you might think. Standard performance metrics are downstream of trust, accountability, and buy-in. This buy-in doesn’t come just as a result of being part of your team, even though the dynamics of your team are a factor that has the focus of the people on your team. A surface level might not reveal this. But a deeper review of these dynamics shows that the members of your team, from those currently onboarding to those with greater longevity, are looking at you as a leader to determine where your heart is. Do you view your relationship with the members of your team as transactional? Or, are you willing to take on the mantle of vulnerable leadership to invest in each of the members of your team in allowing them to engage in opportunities that foster their personal and professional growth, and to advance and to speak words that facilitate agency and empowerment? Because as you empower your team and your vulnerable leadership shows that your investment and showing value to your team is genuine, you are investing in establishing trust.

Show Integrity.

The exercise of integrity highlights your vulnerability and transparency. It also meets the needs of team members by connecting with them at their point of need for alignment as its highlighted for cross-functional teams that include members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations. Click here to access an article that will help you discover more about how this affects cross-generational teams. Consistent decision-making that has integrity and ethics at its core has critical signals that employees look for. Namely, these are: consistency, responsibility, ownership of decisions and impact, willingness to accept open and honest and even critical feedback, and the navigation of challenges and setbacks with values, grace, and a growth mindset. As a leader, integrity is your CROWN and guiding star. As you adopt it and the other foundational keys to trust, you’re on your way to positively affecting your team.

Grow in your ability as a genuinely vulnerable and transformational leader. Discover how to facilitate the growth and sense of agency of the members of your team in ways that will increase commitment to the mission, vision, and values of your team. Register now for the 5 Essentials of Christ-Centered Team Building Webinar. The last day to register is September 6^th at 10 PM CT. Or, learn more about keynote speaker, Scott Gostchock, Ed. D., when you click on this link. We’ll see you there.

Looking for more information about Scott Gostchock Ed. D.? Visit this link to discover more about Scott and the upcoming 5 Essentials of Christ-Centered Team Building Webinar.

What are signs your team looks at to determine your commitment to integrity?

Integrity is the CROWN of every leader. Leaders who operate consistently with integrity:

Consistency
Responsibility
Ownership of decisions and impact
Willingness to accept open, honest, and even critical feedback
Navigation of challenges and setbacks with values, grace, and a growth mindset

What are some of the real and tangible ways leaders can help members of their team experience and feel a sense of agency?

Signs that team members are experiencing a greater sense of agency include greater buy-in with team initiatives, a commitment to the mission, vision, and values of the organization or business, and greater advancement and retention of team members. Ways you can contribute to this as the leader of your team include:

Speaking positive and encouraging words to team members.
Delegating responsibilities to team members in ways that show your trust in them, position them for greater advancement, and allow them to grow in their skills.
Encouraging team members to seek advancement within the company in ways that are meaningful to them and, while you’re encouraging this, going to bat for team members to increase the likelihood of their being able to step into these opportunities.

What is one tip that you can lean into as a leader to improve your track record of consistency and trustworthiness?

Set SMART goals and objectives for yourself before sharing them with your team. This means first that you are ensuring that you know what your goals and objectives require. Then, it helps you to have a better understanding of what you have to meet these goals and objectives, whether the resources you have to allocate are time, resources, or relationships. Know your team to know what’s healthy and where they can help you to keep your commitments to them. Know yourself so that when you share goals and objectives with your team, they’re meaningful and ones both you and your team know are reasonable and achievable.

What is manager squeeze?

Manager squeeze is what happens when managers are put between the proverbial rock and hard place between what is being requested and required of them and increasing limitations in terms of decreased funding, smaller teams, and an overall lack of resources. This requires more of managers and can negatively affect trust because managers may feel as though they have to make commitments to their team that they cannot realistically fulfill. It also contributes to lower rates of retention in part because of the feeling that work-life balance is not achievable.