The Trusted Leader: 3 Key Actions to Build Trust and Develop a Thriving Workplace Culture

Trust is essential for a flourishing workplace. People will put their full energy into the mission of an organization or ministry when they trust the leadership and when leaders show trust in their staff. But what are the actions and attitudes that build trust? And what will cause trust to dissipate? How can you, as a leader, prioritize building a foundation of trust that will create long-term flourishing?

The Trust Equation

While building trust is a long-term process that isn’t necessarily simple, there are clear components that enhance trust in your workplace setting and those that reduce trust.

Trust is built over time, with many small actions and attitudes, including an effort to get proximate, to communicate clearly, and to create an atmosphere of encouragement. These components are a result of both leadership competence and character.

A competent leader exhibits effective communication skills, takes time to build relational equity, and knows that encouragement builds confidence and trust. The character qualities of this type of leader include integrity, honesty, clarity, and valuing people. Their competence and character work in tandem to increase the trust of people under their leadership.

The denominator of this equation focuses on what diminishes trust. A leader who is primarily operating out of self-interest dilutes the trust that people have put in them. Paul addresses this motivation in Philippians 2:3-4: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Senior leaders who put the mission of the organization and the people they serve above any personal ambition are trustworthy and will enhance the atmosphere of trust.

Actions and Attitudes to Build Trust

Get Proximate

Trust grows when people spend unhurried time together. Working together on a team activity provides points of connection and relational equity. Service projects and fun team activities are not just time wasters but build shared experiences and form bonds. This is especially true when people from different parts of an organization or various levels of authority are brought together. No longer is the experience just in the context of the VP of Finance and a customer service agent, but it is two people caring for people in their community by putting together Thanksgiving boxes for families with limited resources.

It can feel like a busy organization doesn’t have time for these activities, but the benefit is felt over the long term through deeper relationships that build trust.

The need to get proximate to build trust applies within your staff and also to your board. Often, a board is disconnected from the day-to-day reality of your organization. While your board should focus on policy rather than everyday management decisions, the more they understand your staff and your organization’s day-to-day work, the better equipped they are to lead well. Have your board spend some time in the field to listen and understand. This allows staff to build trust in the board and allows the board to get proximate to the staff and to your customers or ministry recipients.

Communicate Clearly

If you’ve ever been at a playground with young children, you’ve seen the need to communicate about transitions. Rather than just announcing that it’s time to leave, giving a 10-minute warning can help a child transition. Of course, your staff are mature adults, but even adults appreciate knowing what’s coming next, especially when it involves significant changes.

Communicating about changes in advance prepares the people you lead and gives them time to adapt to change. You are showing trust in your staff when you give them additional information and include them in the process. The larger the change, the more preparation is needed. The trust you show in your team to provide a path for change will be returned in trust in your leadership on the road ahead.

There are numerous negative examples of organizations that became derailed in a change process because of inadequate communication, which led to decreased trust in leadership. A disruptive change can lead to a loss of productivity and disengagement when people feel they’ve been blindsided. There are special situations where confidentiality is important, but clear communication through a change process and providing people with space to process change increases the likelihood that trust won’t be broken through the change.

Create an Atmosphere of Encouragement

The Apostle Paul is a great example of a leader who was trusted and built a foundation of trust with his team. He had also mastered remote leadership in the first-century context, which involved many letters and some in-person visits with those he was leading. We often cast Paul’s letters as very corrective. While it’s true that he cared so much for the people he was leading that he wanted to exhort them to follow Jesus’ teaching, Paul included multiple encouragements in his letters to lift up the followers of Jesus.

When you read Paul’s letter to the Philippians over and over, you see him encouraging them, complimenting them, and focusing them on their identity in Christ. He wants them to catch the vision of how to live in Christ, and he communicates passionately to build up their faith.

Doug Mazza, former President of Joni and Friends, says, “People are dying for encouragement; they should be living for encouragement. I don’t need to convince them how smart I am. I need to convince them how smart they are, because with encouragement people will exceed their own expectations and they will find enjoyment in doing it.” (From Road to Flourishing by Al Lopus, Best Christian Workplaces, co-founder & board chair)

Building an atmosphere of encouragement doesn’t mean that there are no boundaries for the actions of your staff. It means that you call out the positive actions that are happening every day as your people work toward the goals of your organization. Then, when there are situations that require difficult conversations, they are received in the context of a healthy, balanced relationship. Because you have spent time together, clearly communicated expectations, and recognized achievements, your corrections are welcome.

This atmosphere of encouragement is seen at all levels of a flourishing organization. It means that supervisors know their staff well and spend time coaching them and training them for successful work. It means that senior leaders provide clear communication and direction to middle managers and empower them to carry that forward.

Next Steps to Assess and Build Trust

Start the process of growing trust by understanding the current health of your workplace. Best Christian Workplaces’ Employee Engagement Survey measures the components of trust that are described in this article. Knowing the current level of trust and its building blocks helps you and your team create action plans to improve trust.

Growing self-awareness as a leader helps you understand your leadership competencies and character. A Leadership 360 assessment offers a clear picture of how your leadership impacts others in your organization. Engaging in follow-up stakeholder-centered coaching by a Best Christian Workplaces consultant can provide practical steps to build the components of trust and minimize trust busters.

Focus on attitudes and actions that build trust:

• Invest time in getting proximate with staff throughout your organization by scheduling meaningful team activities and service projects that provide opportunities to build relationships.
• Evaluate your communication processes. Make a habit of sharing information broadly and listening for input. When your organization faces changes, put extra effort into clarity and space for your people to process information.
• Provide regular encouragement for the staff under your care. Model this encouragement from the senior team and build positive feedback into the processes for middle managers and supervisors.

When you have invested in these steps to build trust between leaders and staff, be prepared to see the impact on organizational effectiveness and staff engagement! The benefits will be clear.