The insights for our clients was immense as they fully experienced, often for the first time, how true connection really feels and how it impacts each party. How it is reliant on a combination of trust and respect and how when you have have great connection the horse (or a potential client) will want to be with you and follow you. No more sales conversations required! How engagement for both parties improves when trust is present.
Trust is everything, especially if you are leading another person, a team or a company toward a shared goal or mission. Without a credible reputation, your followers will be hesitant, uncomfortable and unsure of whom they’re really following. And that insecurity, that lack of confidence, can crumble the loyalty and united support that’s vital in an organisation’s success.
So how do you become trustworthy? Remember, good intentions are just the beginning. Here are 15 ways to build and strengthen your credibility as a leader, adapted from Follow Your Conscience by Frank Sonnenberg, author of Marketing to Win and Managing with a Conscience.
1. Show people that you care about their needs.
2. A promise should be as binding as a contract.
3. Never sacrifice a long-term relationship for a short-term gain.
4. Don’t expect people to look up to you if you look down on them.
5. Give credit where credit is due.
6. The danger of shooting from the hip is hitting yourself in the foot.
7. Take the time to provide the rationale behind your recommendations.
8. Be objective.
9. Stand up for the things that you believe in. (Waffles are for breakfast.)
10. Never ask someone to do something that you’re unwilling to do yourself.
11. Your actions must match your words.
12. Think before you open your mouth.
13. You gain more by making others look good than by singing your own praises.
14. Words spoken in confidence are words spoken in trust.
15. Few people will fault you for being tough, if you’re fair.
So what are you doing to build trust and create deep, meaningful relationships? How are you staying connected to your tribe? What are you giving to the relationship with no expectation of return? What can you do to build better relationships and connection today?
Your investment in building relationships will repay itself 10x over, if you just invest the time and energy to truly connect.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
