How to make sure your KEY people TRUST you

To get through the next few weeks / months you’re going to need your family, friends, teams, colleagues, clients and other key people to work with you, believe in you, stick with you and support you. You need people to TRUST you.

But what is trust?

Trust:

• to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something  
• to trust in another’s honesty; to have confidence; hope;

Effective communication is more than just being able to convey a message that is clear; it also means being a good listener, checking for understanding and paying attention to the non-verbal signs.

Openness allows people to become more engaged and it’s a great way of deepening your relationship. Be yourself and people will be more of themselves too, sharing more with you and allowing you to support and help them further.

It creates loyalty, mutual respect and a positive work environment. People want to feel like they are valued and that they play an important part in the bigger picture.

 1. Be an open and an effective communicator.

• Make it personal – be yourself
• Listen & respond with empathy
• Share thoughts, feelings & rationale
• Focus on the positive
• Involve others
• Ask for ideas
• Talk about the ‘undiscussables’
• Straightforward & transparent
• Challenge assumptions

2. Make it “Two-way” communications

• Make it personal – be yourself.
• Trust, empower and listen
• Manage clearly all expectations and have an open two-way line of communication with your key teams, suppliers or customers.

Remember: Communicate from the TOP of the organisation, from YOU.

 3. Do what you say you are going to do, and not just sometimes, ALL the time.

• Make it personal – be yourself.
• Be consistent – lead by example in everything you do
• Nothing speaks louder than action and behaviour
• Don’t just talk the talk, walk the walk in everything you do
• Demonstrate that you can be trusted to keep your word

4. Be transparent, honest & genuine.

• Make it personal
• Whether good or bad news, update your teams, customers or other key individuals and groups, be transparent.
• Don’t tell them what you think they want to hear but instead what they need to hear. Be honest, factual & transparent, show support for their effort & input.

5. Show you care – empathy

• Make it personal
• Show people that you care about them by asking questions, remembering the details and showing an interest.
• Share insights into your life, be human and empathise.
• Find out what their interests are and be genuine with your efforts.
• Be present and listen.

Empathy is the experience of understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and condition from their point of view, rather than from your own.

You try to imagine yourself in their place in order to understand what they are feeling or experiencing.

(source:PsychologyToday)

Have a watch of this talk from Simon Sinek – Understanding Empathy.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences about building trust. Or if you have any questions or want to chat through how you can develop more trust with your key individuals or groups please get in touch at lucy@lrcomms.co.uk.