Navigating the delicate balance of leadership, new leaders must assess whether their actions build trust or inadvertently erode it. This involves adapting problem-solving approaches to avoid overwhelming the team, redefining relationships when transitioning from peer to leader, and maintaining authenticity in confidence. By setting clear expectations, engaging in honest role-transition dialogues, and fostering a culture of feedback and curiosity, leaders can ensure their actions strengthen trust and enhance team cohesion.
As leaders, we are continually in situations that allow us to deepen our relationships and mutual trust with our team members. For those of us who might be newer to the leader role, we have to be mindful that we are always tiptoeing a fine line between reinforcing or eroding trust.
As wonderfully told in this recent HBR article, some of the exceptional things we do could get in the way of our success as a leader. Here are our five thoughts on this.
1| You have a desire for action and problem-solving.
Think back to what got you noticed, and likely contributed to you being asked to be a leader… you just don’t like leaving questions unanswered, problems unsolved, or actions incomplete. Awesome! Your challenge now is you might be holding your team members to your standard of performance and thinking that them not meeting this high bar will reflect poorly on you as a leader.
Here, you might be tempted to over-coach, or even “do” some of the work. This could quickly be perceived as micromanagement and an erosion of the empowerment you are giving to your team.
Try this; Double down on the clarity of your expectations, describing what great outcomes look like and learn their approach to doing the work (versus mimicking yours).
2| You used to be a member of the team and now you lead the team.
We talk about this in our Leadership for Success program, what’s different when you move out of the team to lead it? It’s a difficult situation that can leave you feeling awkward now that you are leading your former peers.
In this situation, you might be going out of the way to ensure that everyone on the team believes “things haven’t changed”. You need to face up to this… things have changed. As a leader the boundaries have shifted, especially relating to what information you can share and how you socialize.
Try this; Have proactive conversations with everyone on the team to clarify what’s new and what’s changed in this relationship and describe what they can expect of you as the leader of the team. For existing relationships, make sure it’s clear that this won’t be a path for personal gain; for new relationships, focus on setting mutual expectations.
3| You are trying to fake it to make it.
Often new leaders feel they need to ooze confidence to gain the team’s trust. This is where you might be overly positive, speaking in aggressive or overly direct ways, or dismissing the challenges that come with uncertainties. We know now that overconfidence often comes across as inauthentic and dilutes trust.
Try this; Remember that trusting relationships are well-rounded and include you being vulnerable at times, you doing the right thing for the sake of others, and being recognized as having the right capabilities to see the work through. Balance your desire to show confidence in the face of adversity with showing your team that you are comfortable in not having all the answers.
4| You are continually checking in on the state of relationships in the team.
Especially for those high “I’s” out there (in DISC-lingo), you might be prone to this. You are a people-pleaser at the behaviour level so it’s important to you that others are feeling good and are accepting your leadership in a positive way.
Here, you could be excessively gathering feedback on your approaches from team members to the point that you just cannot act on it all. This can turn the perception of your questions from being well-intentioned to being manipulative or self-serving, and likely diminish over time the value of any feedback you might get.
Try this; Before asking for feedback from your team members, reflect on why you’re asking. Are you motivated to learn and adjust? Or are you seeking validation or reassurance? Then work with your team to empower them to initiate feedback conversations with you if they feel frustrated or unsure.
5| You rely on past success to build credibility.
We recognize that a trust-building dimension is ensuring your team members have confidence in your capabilities to get the work done. As a new leader, you might be tempted to put your track-record on display as the means to make people trust your decision-making skills.
In this situation, you might be relying too much on the past; how many times have you started a sentence with “well, when I was at Acme Corp, we approached this situation…” Using this phrasing too often will paint a picture that you actually have a limited frame of reference, while diminishing your confidence in the ideas or approach other’s may be presenting.
Try this; Stop leading with your experiences but lean on your leadership trait of curiosity. Ask more questions, learn about their challenges and experiences. Having a foundation of their experiences allows you to build by adding your own.
In the end, remind yourself that building trust in teams is a long process and cannot be rushed. Stay genuinely focused on your broader leadership objective of helping everyone to be as successful as they can be in their role.
Without trust, we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team. - Stephen Covey
About the Author
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With more than 20 years of experience, Dean Fulford offers a deep expertise in leadership development, organizational development and design, project management, process mapping, and best-practice benchmarking activities to his client projects. With an extensive background in organization development and effectiveness, performance consulting and process improvement, Dean compliments his HR background with strong process management and competency-based project experience. He is a member of Stratford’s Leadership team, responsible for its Leadership Development practice area, bringing both product innovation and operational effectiveness to these services. |