One of the most important competencies of effective leadership is knowing how to build trust. Without it, your leadership will be compromised and inspiring others to follow your vision will be nearly impossible.

What can you do to begin the process of building trust? The key lies with an awareness and a clear understanding of your guiding values.

  1. Know Your Values. Values fuel your emotions and emotions influence your decision making. Your values and emotions drive self-talk. That self-talk is the meaning you place on your and others’ behavior and actions. If, in your perception, your values are not being followed, you will feel a flood of emotion. Once you identify what that flood is about and what values were violated, you can decide how to move forward.
  1. Examine Self-Talk. I encourage you to take the time to examine your self-talk, checking to see if you are forming assumptions that are not true. This allows you to make emotionally intelligent decisions that positivity impact trust and your leadership effectiveness. Impulsive decisions based on assumptions will ultimately destroy trust.

If it has been some time since you identified your key values, I suggest you spend quality time examining those values. If you feel stuck, there are many lists found online that will kick-start your mind with ideas on the values you want to bring front and center to your life and leadership. Guiding values range from being well-organized, healthy, respected, making money, and spending time with family; the list is endless.

When you are clear on your values, you can understand your emotional reactions and how your actions build or potentially erode trust. Knowing your values, your emotional reactions, and the self-talk that leads to sound or not-so-sound decisions are the gateway to building trust.

Trusting environments bring out the brilliance in you and others!