Be a Mentor
Developing Trustworthy Leaders
Becoming a Trustworthy Leader
Last time I talked about the key components of trust: Competence, Character and Care, and how the first step to building these in your team is to build them in yourself. You need to be the kind of leader your people or your leader can trust. Today we are going to talk about some ways to build the trustworthiness of those you lead.
Multiplying Leaders
This week I interviewed the head of Marketing for Bayer Crop Science, Kubilay Demirci. He has had years of experience in raising up leaders by working with young interns. Here are some ideas that he shared with me about how to develop trustworthy leaders on your team.
“Trust means being willing to hand your keys over.”
4 Steps to Build a Trustworthy Leader
- Choose a key employee. Give them a clear contained project and “hand them the keys”. Give clear guidelines and expectations but let them do it their way. As they grow give them more and more important projects.
- Give them freedom to make mistakes. Talk through any mistakes made and ask them what they would do different next time.
- Publicly celebrate their successes. Give clear feedback about what went well and what could be done better, with an emphasis on their successes.
- Always take time to truly listen to your employees. Put down your work and give them your full attention. This helps them build trust in you and results in their loyalty.
I hope you can have a boss like him! That’s how I want to lead, at least.
Stay tuned next week for some ideas on how to build trust with your boss.
Let's Start the dialogue
Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing various ideas to help you bring Psychological Safety to your team, no matter what your position. Do you have a question about Psychological Safety or how you can apply it in your work or home? Leave a comment below or ask a question here that we will answer in future blog posts!
Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming events in your area.
Ask Your Question
Jeff Staege is an American who lived in China for 23 years before moving to Istanbul, Turkey in 2022. He is an executive coach and trainer in Emotional Intelligence. He helped found Sofian International Consulting and is the co-author of the EQ Solutions curriculum.
Jeff is married to Rebecca Staege and has four high school age children. He loves learning languages, reading, teaching, running and rock climbing.
