Trust: The Bridge Between Leader and Follower

Did you forget something?

In our quest to become better leaders, we often forget the most fundamental thing that makes us leaders: followers!

They stand at the heart of the very definition of “leader.” So, this week, we circle back to basics for insights on how to cultivate your followership. This information comes directly from our newest book, Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI.

One of the key actions an effective leader takes to enhance followership is building trust. Trust is essential for forging strong relationships with anyone, and that’s doubly so between leaders and followers. We enter every trust relationship as both the trustor and trustee; while gaining the other person’s trust, we are also determining how much we can trust them.

Dr. MaryJo Burchard of Fresno Pacific and Regent Universities, and founder of leadership consultancy Concord Solutions, sees six dimensions to trust:

1. Authenticity: When someone can take your words and actions at face value and not feel you are withholding information. It’s a key trait of great leadership in general, but all the more necessary in establishing and maintaining trust.
2. Safety: When your team feels safe, secure, and protected. All the talk lately of establishing safe spaces at work isn’t trendy fluff; our brains’ wiring dictates we cannot trust when we feel at risk.
3. Consistency: Displaying a predictable pattern of behavior. The world is volatile and chaotic enough; your behavior needn’t mimic that. Followers need to see consistent reactions from you. This ties directly into the sense of safety above.
4. Dependability: When someone knows you will keep your promises and confidentiality. With all the uncertainty in the world today, followers need to know they can count on you. The trustworthy leader is the rock they rely on in the turbulence of modern work life.
5. Ownership: When the follower believes you will feel the full weight of your decisions’ outcomes, and you’ll take full responsibility. Politicians have a lot of problems with this one, in particular.
6. Competence: When your team members believe you have the skills needed to do what is expected. Note that competence differs from omniscience. No one expects you to have every answer at your fingertips; they do expect you to have the skill to find the answer (or find the specialist who has it).

Like anything worthwhile, trust takes time to build – doubly so if past actions violated any of these dimensions. But authenticity comes first on the list for a reason: if you genuinely put effort into building trust, your team will sense that honesty and grant you grace during the inevitable stumbles that happen on the way.

What are some of the specific actions you’ve taken to build trust at work? What did a boss do for you that created instant trust? Let us know in the comments; we’d love to hear from you!

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Co-authors Neil Grunberg and Erin Barry go into greater depth on followership in our book. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/3M4Iybj, or as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/3Vko2IW.

We also interviewed Dr. Burchard about trust in our podcast; listen to her episode at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-x2bqi-133c315.

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