Whether you lead a team or are part of one, trust is an essential component of success. Perhaps obvious, but not as evidenced as one would hope.
How are the trust levels in your team? When I work with teams on either a coaching or training basis, I can clearly spot the teams where the trust is either high or low/non-existent.
Reading my weekly business article from EBW (Emotions and Behaviours at Work) this week, I was reminded of the importance of trust. I am going to quote extensively from EBW in this article, so thank you to Clare from EBW!
The article states:
“Trust has a rich research base in organisational psychology.
From ability, benevolence and integrity (Mayer, Davis & Schoorman, 1995) to cognitive and affective trust (McAllister, 1995) and later work on trust repair (Gillespie & Dietz, 2009; Tomlinson & Mayer, 2009), the conclusions converge.
Across these peer-reviewed models, one theme stands out: teams infer trust from consistent, observable behaviour over time.”
So if you are not demonstrating trustworthy behaviour, how can you expect the people in your team to trust you?
The article goes on to explain that it is behaviour that drives trust:
“In high-change environments, intent is harder to read, so teams rely more on behavioural evidence, clear follow-through, predictable decisions, fairness under pressure, and constructive adaptability when priorities shift. When those patterns hold, trust strengthens, even across distance and uncertainty. When they don’t, engagement and performance start to slide.”
This is essential to understand as a team leader. The team are always watching, always aware and always noticing behaviours, not just from the team lead, but from their peers.
I became an advanced facilitator with EBW because they have such a strong base of scientific research, and their tools are excellent.
The EBW Team Compass benchmarks team performance, uncovers the hidden dynamics that erode trust and enables you to plan measurable and tangible improvement.
It turns emotional behavioural insights into action, helping teams align, commit and deliver with confidence. It provides the framework to raise performance across cultures, functions and challenges. EBW Brochure – Creating Team Edge.
I am an advanced facilitator and partner of the EBW suite of tools. If you would like to find out more about how the EBW can help your team to thrive, email justine@proactivecoaching.ie for a free brochure or contact me through LinkedIn, which is where you may have clicked through to this article. For further information on the range of EBW organisational tools, go to http://ebwglobal.com
I would also be happy to provide you with a free 1-hour consultation to discuss the option that may work best for your organisation. Thank you.
