Catalyst Track: Trustworthy Leader // Day Three - Humble Perspective

This 4-day track originates from the article “8 Surefire Ways to Build Trust with Your Team Today” by Matt Walker.

 

As leaders, one of our greatest assets is the ability to be trusted by our team. Trust is hard to gain. Like my dad used to say, “Trust takes years to build and seconds to destroy.”

 

Many business people, especially executives in the C-suite, are inherently distrustful. This has been helpful for them because it has been a safeguard against poor business decisions and less than favorable partnerships.

 

Yet, if you are a leader of any sort — business, ministry, non-profit — your first priority is to gain the trust of those on your team and maintain that atmosphere by continually setting the tone of one who can be trusted. Here are some things you can begin today that will build trust with those on your team, your congregation, and anyone else you come into contact with.

 

Do you think you have the trust you need and want from your team? These next four days layout 8 simple and practical yet impactful ways you can lead in such a way that inspires trust and confidence from your team. 

 

It starts with you! 

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DAY 3 – Humble Perspective

 

Outlook 

Assume positive intent (and operate from that state of mind).

 

How many times have you talked with someone and felt like they were insulting you or were mad at you because of their body language only to find out later that the person wasn’t mad at you at all, but was rather going through something, was upset or preoccupied with thinking about something heavy that was going on in their life, or you simply read them wrong?

 

This has happened to all of us, yet this stems from a desire to be a people pleaser. We need to repent of our people-pleasing nature and assume that others mean well until proven otherwise.

 

Communicate 

Be very clear when giving instruction and in casual conversation (and over-communicate). On the flip side of the last point, communicating well (or over-communicating) will pay big trust dividends. Although clear and exhaustive communication with others can be more work, it will drastically improve your team’s ability to trust you and will squash the majority, if not all, of their misconceptions.

 

CHALLENGE:

Ask a couple of people you work with for an honest evaluation of how you communicate. How do you need to adapt as a result? Share your action step in the comments below.