Trust is the foundation for an effective leadership team – or almost any team come to that.
Without trust, real teamwork is all but impossible.
Trust means that members of the team are confident that their colleague’s intentions are good, that they do not have to tiptoe around certain individuals or manage their behaviours for effect.
The difficulty with building trust is that team members need to be prepared to make themselves vulnerable with one another. This can be challenging (but not impossible) to achieve since it requires the confidence to share weaknesses and not be fearful that vulnerabilities will be used against them.
This is not tree-hugging, fluffy stuff; it’s important if the team is to focus its energy on the job in hand.
Teams lacking in trust under-perform; they may make poor decisions, hold grudges and fail to tap into one another’s skills and expertise. Staff turnover is also likely to be higher.
By contrast, trusting teams focus their time and energy on important issues rather than politics. They will take moderate risks, appreciate others’ experience and pool expertise. When needed, they offer and accept apologies without hesitation.
Having built trust, teams then need to go on to:
- Overcome the fear of conflict
- Build commitment
- Become more accountable
- Focus on results
Achieving this is no easy task but if teams really want to step up a gear, then the team needs to come first.