I was having a conversation with a colleague recently and he said something that really hit home:

“I know I need help Tina, but I just haven’t been able to find anyone I can trust yet.”

Mmmmmm – I felt this one deeply, because I totally get it.

Trust is the heart of everything when it comes to team.

And it often gets misunderstood…

We think that trust is about the other person. It’s about “finding someone I can trust”.

Trust is something you create as a leader – it’s not just something they show up with.

Let’s break this down a bit. What does trust look like?

• They keep commitments and get stuff done
• They own mistakes when they happen
• They are real with what they can (and can’t) do
• They care about the business and your customers
• They are there when needed (within reasonable boundaries of course)
• They have your back

It’s easy to look at this list and think it’s all about ‘them’. About who they are. That these are innate qualities that they either have (or don’t have.)

That’s simply not true.

Everything on this list is more about your leadership than it is about them. It’s about how you engage with your team. It’s about expectations and agreements. It’s about speaking their language and making sure everyone is on the same page. It’s about communication and culture.

When we look through the lens of leadership, trust is something that we get to build! It’s something that we can own and create with our team. It’s not something that we have to “cross our fingers and hope that we finally found someone we can trust.”

So much more empowering when we look at it that way, yes?

To be clear, it is important to find the right person for the role. To make sure they are a fit for what you need and bring the skills/aptitude you are looking for.

But when you hire the right person for the role then it becomes your responsibility to lead them to success. To build the trust that you so deeply crave.

This is the heart of what I’ll be teaching in our 3-part Team Leadership Workshop that starts next week. If you are interested reply to this email and I’ll send over the details.