The source of successful leadership is to influence others. And trust, the basis of the ability to influence others. You can not influence someone who does not trust you.
But if this trust is damaged or lost for some reason, how can a leader or manager restore trust? What is the practical way to do this?
High-trust environments correlate positively with high degrees of personnel involvement, commitment, and organizational success and Warren Bennis, for one, considered trust to be the major leadership challenge. In an important relationship, trust that has been violated should be repaired. In a nutshell, the essential steps in the process of rebuilding trust require that the "violator" should acknowledge that a violation has taken place; determine the exact nature of the violation and what caused that; accept responsibility; and make amends. (Even then, not all relationships survive violations of trust.) Article Building Trust in the Workplace
may be of interest.
To restore trust, leadership needs to repeatedly demonstrate that they are just as concerned (or even more concerned) about the welfare of the employees as they are about their own welfare. Leadership needs to establish a pattern of seeking the well-being of employees and acting in a trustworthy manner.
It is critical for Managers to be leaders to avoid losing employees trust on them and then the operation. I think It is hard to build a good reputation after a bad one.
10 Steps to Gain (or Regain) Your Employees’ Trust
Align your words and actions , Give credit to those who deserve it , Keep an even emotional keel , Invest in your employees , Share information , Stop micromanaging , Put an end to gossip and bullying , Listen to your staff, Don’t harp on failures, Be effective.
Are you familiar with the work of David Maister? In a book titled The Trusted Advisor, Maister and colleagues, Charles Green and Roberr Galford explore the Trust Equation (Chatper 8). I have found this useful to share with leaders in my leadership coaching practice. Which area(s) do they need to address in their relationship with those they seek to influence?
T = (C + R + I)/ S
T = trustworthiness
C = Credibility – Words: leader knows what they are talking about/”I can trust what she or he says about…”
R = Reliability – Actions: leader does what they say they are going to do
I = Intimacy – Emotions: leader demonstrates respect for the person/caring/“I feel comfortable discussing this….”
S = Self-Orientation – Motives: leader demonstrates that their actions are not solely about themselves/the more it is about the leader's self-interest, the less trust there is
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