7 Ways to Earn Trust in a New Leadership Position

Getting hired or promoted to a leadership position is an exciting moment in any career. But while the role might come with a fancy title, a pay raise, and perhaps even your own parking space, you’ll need more in order to actually do the job well—starting with the trust of your new team members.

Paul Zak, psychology professor and author of Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies, has found that people who work at “high-trust companies” report:

• 74% less stress
• 106% more energy at work
• 50% higher productivity
• 13% fewer sick days
• 76% more engagement
• 29% more satisfaction with their lives
• 40% less burnout

With these compelling benefits in mind, let’s explore seven ways leaders can accelerate the trust-building process when stepping into a new position.

1. Establish shared goals.

The easiest people to trust are those who want the same things as we do. Chances are, your goals as a leader won’t perfectly match those of your employees. But with a little digging, you can usually find common ground. For example, you all want the company to succeed. You all want to serve your customers well. And you all (hopefully) believe in the company’s mission and core values. Everyone is pursuing the same big-picture goals. You just might have different opinions on how to achieve them.

2. Don't change everything right away.

When you accept a new position, it can be tempting to hit the ground running. But it's important to take care when making make unpopular changes. Adjusting too much too fast can make your team feel like they have no control over their situation, which will erode trust. In fact, in a survey conducted by Citigroup and LinkedIn, almost half of respondents reported they would trade a 20% pay raise in exchange for more control over their work.

3. Listen.

It’s difficult to believe someone is looking out for you when they don’t even know what you want. Schedule conversations with your team members to ask questions and get to know people better. Listening will give you the context to make smarter choices. Plus, it will demonstrate to your employees that you value their insights and understand their interests.

4. Give your team a quick win.

When Dara Khosrowshahi left Expedia to become the CEO of Uber, he inherited a fractured company culture, a damaged corporate reputation, a growing food delivery service, and an army of roughly two million drivers.

Needless to say, Khosrowshahi had no shortage of options for how to invest his time. But where did he spend it? One of his first big undertakings was redesigning the Uber driver app based on actual driver feedback—and testing it himself. Delivering quick wins like this one shows that you care about your employees’ happiness, which builds trust.

5. Be respectful of the previous regime.

When you’re stepping into a new position and looking for ways to make improvements, it can be easy to speak disparagingly of your predecessor—even accidentally. Be careful about that. Even if the old boss left under messy circumstances, chances are, members of your team still have a level of respect for, and perhaps even personal relationships with, that person.

6. Work hard.

It’s easy to say you’re committed to your team’s success, but working hard is one way to prove it. Go the extra mile in your first few weeks on the job. Consider getting to work early, leaving a bit late, and establishing that you’re a boss who pulls their own weight.

7. Share responsibility.

When the team succeeds, give your employees the credit. When the team fails, take the blame. Few things build trust as quickly and powerfully as sharing responsibility for team outcomes.

Trust makes companies more effective. So as the leader of your team, cultivating trust is part of your job description. After all, as Simon Sinek has said, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.”