Redefining Leadership with a Trust-First Approach

Can trust really be given rather than earned? Join us in challenging conventional wisdom as we unpack the transformative power of trust within leadership. Explore the compelling reasons why starting with a mindset of trust can serve as the cornerstone for building respect, enhancing performance, and fostering a collaborative environment. By flipping the script on trust, leaders can empower team members to take initiative, feel valued, and engage in open, transparent communication. This episode reveals how this shift can lead to stronger relationships, accelerated rapport, and heightened loyalty—key ingredients for effective leadership.

We'll dive into the crucial link between trust, risk-taking, and innovation. When leaders extend trust freely, they create an atmosphere where individuals feel liberated to step out of their comfort zones and embrace creativity without fear of negative consequences. Discover how embracing trust as a foundational element of leadership can inspire authenticity and a shared commitment to success. Tune in and transform your leadership approach to cultivate a more empowered and engaged team, equipped to tackle challenges and drive innovation.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Intentional Leaders Podcast. Today we're talking trust, and I'm going to identify why you should give trust rather than believing it should be earned, and I'm going to tell you all the reasons why this is so important from a leadership perspective and the effect that it will have on those around you. All right, so in classes that I teach, I talk about trust a fair amount and we talk about what it means to people and then define it and all of those good things. But we inevitably come to a discussion and this is a question that I specifically ask people, either virtually in polls or in person is do you give trust or does trust need to be earned? Now, what do you think is the majority of people's response to that? It is overwhelmingly trust needs to be earned. But I find that really super duper interesting, because if I need to earn your trust and I'm someone on your team or someone working with you, how in the world do I do that? And if I don't know how to do that, and I think, oh my gosh, my boss wants me to earn their trust and I don't even know how to do it, because that takes time, right, it takes time. And what do I need to do to prove that I am trustworthy. And it's not just being reliable, it's not just saying what I'm going to do and then I do it, which we mostly think of as trust, but it has all kinds of ramifications.

Speaker 1: 1:42

So what I want to focus on is why you should give it. Why should you start with the mindset of giving trust rather than saying it has to be earned and it's powerful for all kinds of reasons, and I just want to put it out there. I want to put it out there and I want you to think about yourself and think about your relationship with trust. What it means. Because when you give trust freely, it creates a foundation of respect and it encourages people around you to feel valued and empowered. It sends a strong message that you believe in them, right, you believe in their abilities, their judgment, their integrity, and that has a reciprocal effect. People are also more likely to extend that same level of trust and back to you. So I think that giving trust earns mutual respect, because right from the get-go, we're treating one another with a level of respect that comes with trust.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Number two I think it empowers people. Giving trust means you have confidence in your team's capabilities and I know from my classes on accountability that I think almost every manager I've ever talked to, or every leader I've talked to, wants their employees to take initiative. Giving trust gives confidence to people. They are much more likely to take initiative and to assume ownership because they know you trust them and then they trust you to have their back. It absolutely can drive better performance, especially right from the get-go, when you're meeting someone and starting to work with them for the first time.

Speaker 1: 3:28

The third thing that I think giving trust freely does is fosters the kind of collaboration and open communication that we want. When employees don't feel like they have to prove their trustworthiness again and again and again, they can actually focus more on contributing ideas, solving problems, sharing feedback, and then there's less fear of being judged or micromanaged. So I think that transparency absolutely affects collaboration. All of this means that you're going to have stronger relationships with people, because trust is the cornerstone, absolutely, of relationship and it's going to speed up that process. Waiting for trust to be earned slows down that connection between us and others. When we give trust, it accelerates rapport and loyalty, and I have seen this again and again and again in coaching, in facilitation, in leadership and in working with leaders, the more I give people trust, the more they connect to me because they know that I trust them to be authentic and transparent and that I will do the same. I think that whole concept though kind of back to initiative also ties to risk taking and innovation. Because if I have to worry about taking risks and if I have to worry about making a mistake because I'm not trusted or I fear I'm going to get in trouble for something, then I'm not going to experiment as much, I'm not going to be bold, I'm not going to be as innovative, I'm not going to experiment as much, I'm not going to be bold, I'm not going to be as innovative. So if you want people to step out of their comfort zone and not fear negative consequences, we have to give that trust.

Speaker 1: 5:16

I hear a lot of people say I want to be a good role model. I want to be a good role model for leadership. I want other people to see me as an example, and absolutely I believe that is true. I think people do want to be a role model, they want to set an example, and this is a great way to do it Flip and trust people, because if you, as a leader, demonstrate trust from the outset. Trust from the outset. Other people are going to do that too. So giving trust shows your openness and it shows, as a leader, your vulnerability, and that fosters an environment where trust is the norm. It's expected because you're doing it. You're not saying to other people hey, I want you to be open and vulnerable, but I'm not going to do that. That is the opposite of being a good role model and a good example and leading by example to you and to the organization where they feel like they're trusted and respected.

Speaker 1: 6:19

This also absolutely 100% affects personal and professional growth. When we trust people and we encourage their growth and development, we allow them to take on new challenges. They're given the space to really stretch themselves, their capabilities and also make the mistakes that we were allowed to make right as leaders. We were allowed to make the mistakes and learn and grow. I think sometimes what we do is overemphasize supporting people. We don't want them to make mistakes, so we try to overcorrect and prevent those important lessons to be learned, which actually negatively affects people's growth and it directly leads to that feeling of not being trusted and being micromanaged. At the end of the day, trust is an ingredient for psychological safety when people feel secure enough, safe enough to be themselves, to admit mistakes, to talk about concerns, to give truth to power. And leaders who have that kind of trust and provide that kind of trust create an amazing environment, because then people feel authentic. It's going to create a lot more cohesion on your team.

Speaker 1: 7:48

For all these reasons, I implore you to consider this and your mindset about trust. If you feel like it has to be earned and then you're judging people because they have to earn it and they don't know how to do it, you are going to be affecting the quality of your relationship with those individuals. Think about how you can give it, how you can lean in to giving trust, because it does foster that environment of respect, the empowerment that I know you want, and also the collaboration and innovation that all of us needs. It will absolutely accelerate relationship building and create a culture where people feel confident and motivated.

Speaker 1: 8:33

I know I trust and sometimes, maybe I've been burned by that. Maybe sometimes I've been accused of being too trusting. And is that possibly true? Yes, yes, it is. At the same time, I want to go through my life believing in people and believing that they want to do the right thing, and what they need from me is their trust to get it done. So I will not apologize for trusting everyone and sometimes and occasionally, I'm going to be disappointed. But you know what? That's the exception, that's not the rule. Leaders who choose to give trust not only model the behaviors that they want, but they also create that workplace where employees are more likely to rise to the occasion and perform at their best. I was on a plane today heading to beautiful Bismarck, north Dakota, and there was a colleague of mine and she said I've been listening to your podcast and I've been telling people about it, so please do the same. If you enjoy these podcast episodes, please leave a review or share it with a friend. I really appreciate the support. Until next time, keep leading with intention.