How do Mesmerizing Leaders build trust with employees? According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, more than half of employees worldwide, 63%, do not trust their leaders. Also, many employees do not believe in either the competencies or values of their fellow employees. This blatant lack of mistrust creates silos, disrespectful communication, and the departmental finger-pointing that weakens productivity and morale.
As a business owner, leader, supervisor, or manager, your primary responsibility is to keep team members engaged, motivated, and productive. The fastest way to accomplish this is by establishing and maintaining trust by applying the seven proven tips below. You have to earn their trust, acknowledge and reward hard work, and provide guidance when appropriate. In doing so, you’ll retain top talent and see a rise in discretionary effort because people like their job and their boss.
Would you work hard for a supervisor that didn’t value your contributions or acknowledge your efforts? What if they paid you more? Approximately 50% of respondents surveyed said they’d prefer to have a great boss over receiving higher pay because of the quality of life factor.
Of course, the other 50% said they’d instead take the higher pay. Those who value money over high-trust relationships tend to be lone wolves who believe they work better independently. They will also be the first to jump ship if a better opportunity arises. Yet, when you build a strong, trusting relationship with Type A, Lone Wolves, these high achievers will be loyal and more open to collaborating with their teammates out of respect for you.
When team members trust you, they’ll work harder and do their best to help you and the business succeed. They will also bring synergistic ideas and perspectives that increase operational excellence, improve customer experiences, and generate new revenue opportunities because they feel valued and understand their contribution to the team or company’s success.
Once leadership teams realize this, and many do not, the next question is, “How can we build trust faster with our employees?” While it’s true that trust builds gradually, it can also occur quickly under the right circumstances. You can take specific steps to create mesmerizing relationships with your employees and start earning their trust today.
#1. Continually Improve Your Skills and EQ
One of the biggest complaints I hear from employees is, “My boss is incompetent.” When asked how they drew that conclusion, common responses are, “He changes his mind ten times a day,” “I ask for help and sometimes won’t hear back for a couple of days,” or “She is distant and aloof (or starts yelling) whenever things get stressful, which only makes the situation worse.”
After training high-performing teams for over a decade, I can say with total certainty that the following statement is true. If you want to grow your business, department, or team, make it a priority to improve your self-awareness, communication skills, and emotional intelligence (EQ), rather than focusing exclusively on strengthening sales, marketing, and business growth initiatives. The majority of people in leadership positions do not engage in any personal development programming because they don’t see the need for it (I’ve already got the job) or believe that’s what their employees should be doing. Those ideas set us up for Tip #2.
#2. Be A Role Model
A quick way to build trust in the workplace is to be a role model for your people. Employees model the behavior of those in charge. If you see a consistent behavioral problem in your employees, start improving the beliefs and actions of the person in your mirror before attempting to change your subordinates. Set positive examples for your team by demonstrating how a high-performing, collaborative employee looks, sounds, and behaves. Own mistakes when they occur, speak proactively about other departments and share or give credit to fellow teammates to strengthen morale.
Mesmerizing leaders set high standards of accountability for themselves and their actions. They are genuine and honest, think carefully about their impact on others, and lead with respect and integrity. Having a workforce that models these attributes will always be your most significant competitive advantage in business.
#3. Get In The Trenches With Your Team
Mesmerizing leaders understand the pressures of their employees’ position because they have either done the job themselves or have regular conversations that deepen their understanding of the employee experience.
Get actively involved in projects and work side-by-side with your staff. One of the fastest ways to build camaraderie is by going through a shared emotional experience, like working to accomplish a large project or transitioning through a merger. When you are encouraging, transparent, and you live up to the promises made, it forms a trusting bond between you and your team that others will admire. For an eye-opening experience of the power of being in the trenches, watch a few episodes of Undercover Boss. It’s easy to judge or make false assumptions until you’ve stepped into the shoes of another.
#4. Catch People Doing Things Right
Collectively our cancel-culture society seems obsessed with finding people doing things wrong and “busting them.” Holding people accountable for their words and actions is appropriate and just. Yet, you’ll stand out as a Mesmerizing leader by catching people doing things well and validating them for it, either privately or publicly, depending on which they prefer. Plus, what you focus on expands. Whatever you water most is what grows, so make sure to water the flowers more than the weeds.
Human beings crave recognition and praise, especially when working hard to achieve a personal or company goal. When you spend a portion of each day appreciating and complimenting employees on their ideas and efforts, they will emotionally feel the desire to continue contributing. Employees will have an easier time mentally justify putting in long hours or lots of hard work because “I know my boss appreciates me for it.”
#5. Empower People
Trust your employees and their capabilities rather than micromanaging or doing it yourself because “I can do a better job.” Nobody likes a “helicopter boss,” especially Millennials and Gen. Z’s. Instead, empower your team by encouraging them to solve problems, develop new solutions, and resolve issues on their own rather than coming to you for everything. Treat employees like fellow adults, not children.
If you’re going to rely on your team to perform at a higher level, you must also provide the resources that will allow them to succeed! Companies that experience predictable, sustainable growth in any economy are the ones that actively invest in the education of their leaders and employees by continuously offering training in the form of outside consulting and peer-to-peer “best practices” workshops.
Leading companies stimulate growth by creating work environments that foster creativity and innovation. They organize team-building activities, hackathons, team huddles, and innovation challenges while providing team members with the resources they need to bring their vision to life.
Ask team members to communicate their expectations, brainstorm ideas, seek unconventional solutions, and be open to opinions and beliefs that differ from their own. Breakthroughs get discovered when viewing ideas and positions from a completely different angle. Encouraging your employees to share their perspectives demonstrates you value their contributions, which boosts motivation and increases engagement!
#6. Provide Constructive Feedback
Providing helpful, encouraging, and specific feedback on how your employee performs well and opportunities to improve outcomes creates a psychologically safe place to learn, grow, and excel. Doing so consistently rather than annually also massively builds trust and credibility in your leadership abilities.
Your #1 responsibility as a leader/supervisor/manager is to help your staff members grow and perform at their best. The act of giving feedback shows you are paying attention and care about their success, which will strengthen your relationships. When providing feedback, be uplifting, specific, and focus more on the future than past performance. Use stories and relatable examples that demonstrate how applying this feedback benefits them. You can also share areas where you struggled and how you overcame the adversity, so they feel like you are “in this together” rather than feeling judged.
An essential element for providing constructive feedback is selecting the appropriate time and place to offer it. For example, if an employee does something wrong, it’s better to schedule a one-on-one meeting rather than provide feedback publicly in front of others. Give private feedback, and then offer a choice of whether to share the knowledge gained with the rest of the team. Employees will simultaneously feel empowered and protected, and that type of respect gets reciprocated!
Also, avoid using the phrase “constructive criticism.” The only word your employee will hear is criticism, and nobody wants to feel criticized, regardless of the benefits.
#7. Be Honest and Accountable
When you make a mistake, build trust by revealing and taking responsibility for it. Mesmerizing leaders use errors to improve performance and not as a form of public ridicule. The best leaders also tend to take responsibility when things go wrong and give credit to their team when situations turn out well.
Everyone makes mistakes, so use some of yours to demonstrate humility by occasionally turning them into teachable moments. Recently, I thought one of my employees made an error. While discussing it with her, I realized it was me who had made a mistake. I immediately let her know it was my blunder, and I apologized. Later, she told me how much she enjoyed working with me because I quickly took ownership. Her last boss never did this, which is why she wasn’t working for him anymore.
When leaders take responsibility for their mistakes, learn from them, and improve their decision-making process, employees admire them for it and feel more secure doing the same. An unfortunate leadership mistake is to believe admitting errors reveals weakness. When, in fact, it’s the covering up, blaming others, or making justifications that yield mistrust and lowers your credibility in leadership.
Mesmerizing Leaders Create Happier, High-Performing Teams
Employee trust and workplace performance go hand-in-hand. Trust among people results in more effective communication, improved collaboration, and fewer conflicts, i.e., happier high-performing teams. Although it’s true some high-performing teams thrive on competitiveness and a cutthroat environment, the culture as a whole tends to be toxic, and the collateral damage bears a heavy toll.
By establishing yourself as a trusted leader, you’ll motivate your employees to give their best, and they will rally even in the most difficult of times. Collective goals will become more important than personal interests, brand loyalty increases, and turnover significantly drops.
The tips you now have are powerful, proven psychological strategies that deliver profound, long-lasting results. Print them out, keep them on your desk, and focus on applying each of them when appropriate. You may be doing a great job with a few of these already. However, it’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking we have already mastered each of these trust-building activities. If you want to know how well you are doing with each of these, sit down with a few people who will tell you the truth and ask for feedback. Doing so is often the fastest way to recognize your leadership blind spots.
Start applying these seven mesmerizing trust-building strategies this week, and your influence, credibility, and personal job satisfaction will elevate significantly! You’ll also be on your way to fostering a workplace culture that is strong enough to withstand any storm and become a place for both professional and personal growth. If we are going to spend a third of our lives working, we might as well make it a rewarding experience for all involved.
Tim Shurr, MA, has advanced degrees in Psychology and is a Multi-Award Winning Hypnotist. He facilitated over 15,000 individual coaching sessions and hundreds of group training experiences over the last 32 years and discovered how to quickly eliminate anxiety and self-sabotage while skyrocketing productivity and leadership impact. As an award-winning Leadership Speaker, Tim has helped Corporate Clients earn millions in annual revenue using the One Belief Away Method from his book, One Belief Away! Tim’s approach is so effective, he’s been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News, and the TEDx stage. He’s also the founder of the Global Legend Summit and host of the popular, How To Be Mesmerizing podcast.