Earning trust as a leader

Seth Godin’s recent blog post says that when you are in a leadership position you are in a command-and-control situation. “You get to tell people what to do.” This is the way many see it.
 
Seth argues that a better way is to align with the people you lead. This can be seen on hundreds posts on here. And a lot of us agree with that.
 
“Trust and the benefit of the doubt are more powerful and resilient than command and control.
It’s more difficult to earn this leadership role, and more valuable once you have it.”
 
How do you earn trust?
When do you arrive a place where your team and your managers give you the benefit of the doubt? As Seth says, these are harder to earn but once you get there, they are far more valuable.
 
Have a look at what we have posted here. It isn’t meant to be a simple “Top 5” type of list, but some starting points to think of the difficulties. A lot will depend on the people you work with and your organisation’s culture. That’s why we never claim that this is the ultimate problem solver.
 
The problems can only be solved when adapted to where you work because you know the dynamics.
 
How can you:
Gain the trust of your team?
 
By being fair. This includes being aware of perceived favouritism.
BUT - You’ll get some jealousy from people who think you are favouring a particular colleague. Avoid it.
 
Having team members’ backs.
BUT - get this wrong and the trust you have earned from your managers could be blown away. this can be difficult and not seen as a right.
 
Encouraging input into decision making.
BUT - only if you don’t always ignore the suggestions!
Too often we hear of people who are regularly encouraged to come up with ideas, only to have their managers do the opposite – or the thing they were going to do anyway.
 
Address any concerns promptly.
BUT – this is where your prioritising skills come into play. Be aware that is often the case that a team member will think their problem is more important than someone else’s. 
 
Lead by example. Be a good role model.
BUT – this is exhausting and what you are modelling might not be a good fit for your team because they are doing a different job. For example, being positive and always enthusiastic about your work might be fine for someone with a nice office, company car and international travel but not so easy for the frontline workers who are working in a booth and dealing with irate customers.
 
Trusting your team. Delegating responsibility is a common strategy to show this.
BUT – you’ve got to get this right. Do you have the authority to delegate? Does everyone want responsibility? Are colleagues going to be happy with extra workload? Unlikely.
 
The next thing to look at is how you gain the trust of your leaders.