Building T.R.U.S.T.
Is your leadership style depleting your energy and preventing you from stewarding your followers well?
If you are a leader like me, you are incredibly detailed, thorough, cautious, and a recovering perfectionist-a-holic. The DiSC personality profile labels my personality as a “C” which means a conscientious personality. A conscientious leader is often concerned that the work assigned to their followers will not be completed with the level of detail and accuracy they would have produced themselves. Therefore, this lack of trust prevents a leader from delegating authority and assignments. This eventually depletes a leader’s energy level. To determine if you share the same personality style, visit 123test and take the assessment.
Be willing to give team members opportunities to evolve in their role by allowing them to try new tasks.
To steward teams well while accomplishing organizational goals, leaders must commit to fully trusting God to strengthen their ability to delegate tasks appropriately. Be willing to give team members opportunities to evolve in their role by allowing them to try new tasks. Doing all the work yourself and/or micromanaging followers will undermine the trustworthy cohesiveness of a team and stunt its growth.
Five ways to build T.R.U.S.T.
Here are five ways to build T.R.U.S.T., allowing you to be a good steward of your people, and their talents, while giving them opportunities to expand their skill set.
- Trust your people.
Trust is built at the beginning of a relationship, not at the end. Begin the relationship with 100% trust that you went through routine processes to vet their credibility and hire the person qualified for the position. Remember, trust takes time. Communication, intentional time getting to know one another, and consistently seeing follow through on assignments will increase your level of trust.
- Research helpful resources.
Getting to know your staff and their needs is a key to ensuring your staff has the right tools to accomplish the tasks. You may find that some followers can quickly assess their own needs, and find solutions. Others may need more assistance. Your job as their leader is to know what level of assistance they need and provide resources accordingly.
- Unite and collaborate.
Remember, no matter the situation, a unified team can accomplish more than a divided team.
Where there is unity, collaboration will succeed. Leaders must be accessible and available. Having an open-door policy helps team members understand your willingness to provide guidance when needed.
In collaborative processes, leaders can pair teammates on a project to increase productivity and creativity. Also, vulnerability is a crucial step to uniting a team. Often, vulnerability must be demonstrated by the leader before it is reciprocated. Practicing courageous conversations with truth, honesty, and respect builds a trusting environment.
Remember, no matter the situation, a unified team can accomplish more than a divided team.
- Set expectations.
Setting clear expectations based on the organization's values and goals points everyone back to the foundational principles. If a team member is not upholding these principles, leaders can bring the person's focus back to the agreed-upon expectations. They can inquire about what is hindering progress and try to come to an amicable solution.
- Train and retrain, as necessary.
Determine if followers are trained to do the job correctly. You will find that people have different learning styles and like I have discovered in my experiences, the person may not have received the information the way you intended. Ask questions and avoid jumping to conclusions too soon. Listen attentively, consider their perspective, and address their needs. The solution may be that they need more training or another perspective to ensure retention.
A T.R.U.S.T. environment is a place where peace and grace can rule, yet where leaders can still communicate the importance of getting the job done accurately and efficiently. Such environments will reduce anxiety in leaders and allow them to have longevity in their role rather than depleting their energy.
Three questions for you to consider:
- As a leader, when have you been challenged to delegate tasks?
- How has the lack of delegation depleted your energy and decreased your overall productivity?
- How can you apply these T.R.U.S.T. principles to meet organizational goals and be a better steward of your team?
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For 16 years, Vernicia T. Eure, MA, CT, has counseled hundreds of women and men, trained pregnancy clinic workers, and spoken at local meetings and national conferences. She has spoken at events and done trauma work in West Africa, South Africa, and Nicaragua. She can be reached at vernicia@stepconsultinggroup.com for more information.
