Building Trust is a Key to Business Success

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as "assured reliance
on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or
something". In the real world, trust means different things to
different people but it usually boils down to one thing: trust
is critical to your success, both personally and professionally.

Our focus here is trust as a key to business success. It takes
many forms during your various interactions with others, but it
is always there, just under the surface, influencing and
affecting your work and your leadership effectiveness. Building
and maintaining trust is crucial because when it is there it
helps you, but when it is not, it hurts you.

Trust and your employees
Building trust with your employees means demonstrating every day
that they can depend on you. It happens in small ways, like
supporting a person’s efforts toward professional development or
advocating for your department’s ongoing needs. It also happens
in big ways, like maintaining employee confidentiality and
communicating honestly about company issues. When there is
mutual trust between you and your employees, performance
improves.

Trust and your peers
Think about your peers. There are a few that you can always
trust, but some that are less reliable. You know who they are;
they always have an excuse for missing a deadline, or never quite
finish tasks completely or without error. Eventually you learn
not to trust what they do or what they say because experience has
taught you they are not trustworthy.

Are you one of those people? Be brutally honest with yourself.
Chances are you already know if your peers view you as
trustworthy or not. If the answer is not, then you must correct
that facet of yourself to achieve long-term business success.

Trust and your boss
When your boss has trust in you, chances are your career will
flourish as long as your performance remains worthy of that
trust. He or she is willing to support you, challenge you, and
even mentor you, if you demonstrate trustworthy character and
reliability. Building that trust with your boss takes time and
consistency. You must fulfill your commitments, perform at high
levels, and demonstrate your personal character and integrity.

If your boss does not have trust in you, it will translate into
lost career opportunities. Perhaps you’ll be given only a minor
role in that great new project, or maybe you will not be selected
when someone is needed to fill in temporarily because the boss is
out of town. Think about the many ways trust from your boss
affects your success and start now to make behavioral changes if
necessary.

Trust and your customers
This is extremely important, because trust from your customers
translates directly into dollars. How does this happen? Think
about your own experiences as a customer when you trust a company
to send a crucial part, deliver a package on time, or finish a
project on time. If the company fulfills its commitment, you
learn to trust them and will go back to them in the future. If
the company does not fulfill its commitment, however, your trust
in them diminishes and you are less likely to go back to them
again.

Think carefully. Do you give your customers reason to trust you?

Summary
Trust is an important part of your success. It occurs in many
different ways across your professional life, affecting your
business relationships and ultimately your business performance.
When you pay attention to building trust, as a critical component
of your leadership development, through every interaction you
become better equipped to achieve whatever goals you set for
yourself.

Visit www.TheLeadershipResource.com for a wealth of leadership development information. Susan West has held many executive leadership positions during her 25 years of business experience. She shares her knowledge and lessons learned through a variety of programs offered by QuadWest Associates, LLC including coaching, leadership workshops, tele-seminars and consulting.

Article Source: http://www.leadershiparticles.net

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