A great leader wants the next generation to buy in to his or her vision. However, for this generation, trust doesn’t come easily. This is the most marketed, sold, pitched to, and promoted generation in history – and they stopped trusting early in life.
I saw a recent report that indicated half of all American children will witness their parent’s divorce. In fact, nearly that many will see the breakup of a parent’s second marriage, and one of every 10 will experience three or more parental divorces.
They’ve grown up in a skeptical culture.
So how do leaders develop trust with their team? Here’s my recommendations:
1. Start by being real. Everyone sees through the hype so tone things down. Marketing is good. Hype is bad. Stop trying to over-promote yourself.
2. Stop hiding your mistakes. We need to be vulnerable and show our team that we’re not perfect. (Trust me – they already noticed.)
3. Finally, create a culture where it’s safe to fail. Developing trust is about creating an atmosphere where people are comfortable being themselves and trying new things. Never relax standards of excellence or integrity – and always focus on results – but allow people the room to stretch, take risks, and do it without punishment.
In a post-pandemic world, trust is more important than ever. Build trust, and you can build a great team.
This article originally appeared on PhilCooke.com and is reposted here by permission.
