This article is by David Horsager, author of The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line. Every leader has an integral role in the formations of the teams they work with. Consider the loss of trust and confidence in the financial markets today. Why leaders turn to trust building We know that trust is important, but what dynamics and innate challenges are at play today that causes leaders to want to strengthen trust within their teams? Trust is a foundational element for any company—between leadership and teams and between team members themselves. Leaders facilitate team building.

(See Eight pillars of trust.) Without trust, leaders lose their influence and ability to retain team members. Through ongoing transparent communication and setting aside a small amount of time on a regular basis to dedicated activities, you can build trust … Enthusiasm is low, and members are reluctant to Research shows that only 49% of employees trust senior management, and only 28% believe CEOs are a credible source of information. rely on the trust of a whole range of stakeholders, and crucially this includes employees. 1.

Don’t dismiss this idea as fluff too quickly—this feeling of safety enables employees to give and receive constructive feedback, share new ideas, have difficult conversations , raise flags, and challenge the status quo. Leaders may see that something is “off” within their teams. Be reliable.

Whether you are consciously working on it or not, your attitude and actions as a leader will significantly influence team cohesion and the team spirit of the people you work with.

Horsager views trust as a competitive edge shared by great leaders and great organizations.

The degree of trust in a leader can either accelerate or destroy an organization, business, or relationship.

Key elements to build trust in remote teams Here are 10 key elements to be taken into consideration to help you to build trust in remote teams and sustain a highly effective, productive and successful group, using Gartner´s recommendations as a starting point. Trust in our culture at large, in our institutions, and in our companies is significantly lower than a generation ago. Trust is a natural byproduct of relationship building, and encouraging employees to develop those genuine connections nurtures the psychological safety on your teams. Dependability.

In the organisational context, leaders have a hugely influential role to play in building, demonstrating and earning trust in the organisations they seek to lead (the verb is important here – they can only truly lead if employees trust them In her article “Building Great Leadership Teams for Complex Problems” Ruth Wageman emphasized this challenge – “In leadership teams at the top of an organization, members often construe themselves as representing their own constituents, even at cost to the other leaders at the table.”