If you’re like most leaders, you know that trust is essential for a successful team. But what are the best ways to build and maintain trust within your leadership team? Here are five important tips. Trust can be difficult to establish and easy to lose, but following these tips can help your team stay strong.

Leadership Team Trust Define

Before jumping into the 5 Cs, it is essential to clarify what trust means in the workplace. In Harvard Business Review, Amy Jen Su brought needed clarity to the definition. She framed the foundations of leadership team trust in three areas.

1. Trust in performance. Every team member needs others to perform and get the things done to move the organization closer to success. This builds confidence, dependability, and alignment. 
2. Trust team members to bring good judgment. When team members lack trust, team members compensate by getting over-involved in each other’s areas of expertise. This withholding of confidence translates into the idea of “I don’t trust you to do good work.”
3. Trust to represent each other inside and outside of the organization. How much do leadership team members trust the others to represent them and their interests to the broader team, external clients, or other key stakeholders? When that trust is high, you believe they will inspire confidence. When it’s not, you don’t want them in the room, much less at the table.

So, how do we begin to build trust? I believe there are five fundamental principles for building leadership team trust. When you have these all in place, your team will get more done in less time. And that trust will expand beyond your leadership team into your entire organization. In a 2017 study, researchers found that high-trust organizations had 74% less stress, 50% higher productivity, and 76% more employee engagement.

The Five Cs of Leadership Team Trust

Check Your Ego

Leadership teams need to be a team of equals. Everyone participates equally and contributes equally to the broader success of the organization.  

When we leave our egos at the door, we eliminate many problems, including closed minds, overtalking, and individuals dominating the conversation and the decision process.

As you build your team, weed out the high ego, prideful leaders. Confidence is great, but never at the expense of others.

Clarity of Roles and Plans

I have spoken before about the importance of role clarity on the leadership team, beginning with job descriptions. I’m not advocating for stovepipe management. I support the concept that everyone knows their areas of responsibility and what they need to get done to move the business forward.

Further, the senior leader must clarify the organization’s vision and mission. They must ensure that each team member understands where they are driving the business and how their role contributes to that success. And great leadership teams establish that clarity throughout the organization.

Civility

On any leadership team, healthy conflict is welcome. Not everyone will or needs to agree. Healthy disagreement is good for the leadership team, especially when the stakes are high. And that disagreement can be resolved when team members debate productively and with the greater goal in mind.

Meeting rules can help promote this. The team must be aware of what good and bad behavior are. And, further, they each need to stand up when people break behavioral rules. A lack of civility is never acceptable.

Communication

The leadership team must have clear communication. Regular group meetings, open communication, and robust discussion are essential to the team’s success. 

In my last business, I built the leadership team’s office around a central conference room to drive interactions in a dedicated space. The mantra was that all topics were open for discussion in that room. We could have disagreements. Upon leaving the room, all were clear on the issue and its resolution. Most importantly, they were aligned and agreed on key talking points as they informed their teams.

Commitment

For the leadership team to build long-term trust, each member must meet their commitments to the team. And, when they struggle, let the team know well in advance of any problems or delays. No surprises and no excuses. 

Delivering what you commit to is essential for a high-performing team. Nothing will undermine the team like one member consistently underdelivering on their commitments.

Building trust is essential for any team’s success, and it can sometimes be challenging. However, by following some simple tips, you can create an environment of trust where your team members feel comfortable taking risks and putting their best foot forward. Trust is an opportunity for your team – don’t let it go to waste! If you want to learn more about building trust among your team, schedule a call with me today. I would love to help you get started on the path to success.