Summary: To be an effective leader, you have to have “positive trust”. How do you know if you do?

Regardless of the type of leader you are – business, community, volunteer, or sports. The one thing you must have, without a doubt, in order to be effective is Trust.

Trust:   assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something ~ Miriam Webster

Trust is one of those things that you either have it or you don’t. When was the last time you said “I kinda trust him” – probably never. You either trust someone or you don’t. I like to refer to having “positive trust” which is one that has a positive or encouraging element to it. In other words, you are trusted to do the right thing at the right time or with the right intentions.

“Negative trust” can be described as the opposite. The kind of trust where people know you will only do things in your own self-interest regardless of the effect on others, its all about you – not the company, peers, partners, etc. I have heard people say “my boss can be trusted – to mess it up” or “to ignore what we are saying” or “what’s best for the team”. Most people don’t want to have this kind of trust.

Do they trust you?

How can you tell? Here are some clues to see if you have “positive” trust.

• People come to me with concerns
• People share their ideas
• They tell you things in confidence
• They start conversations with “I know you can fix this”
• People will share some of the negative feedback/gossip in order to turn it around.

If you don’t have trust, start with the small things to turn it around. While trust is easy to loose, it is hard to gain. Over time and with consistency you can regain their trust.

How do you know if you have trust? Share below.