You may have a number of top performers and high achievers on your team—but if they don’t trust you or one another, they’re ultimately not going to be very successful. In fact, they won’t even qualify as a true team.

That’s because trust is the secret sauce. It’s the necessary ingredient for teams that work together, harmoniously, aligned toward shared goals.

Acknowledging that is easy, but actually building trust into your company culture can be tough. Here are a few considerations I can offer.

Start with Values

A good place to begin is with a set of core values—whether respect, honesty, candor, customer-centeredness, or whatever else your team can agree on.

And that’s really the key: As the leader, you can’t simply dictate these values. You actually have to work together with your team to draft a set of values you all think are important. Set them in writing, and make sure everyone on the team has a copy. Make these the buzzwords you use throughout your company culture.

Encourage Transparency

Another key to trust-building is ensuring that your team members have some occasions on which they can talk openly and honestly together—communicating without fear of being judged or penalized for it.

A simple approach: Have at least one standing team meeting, every week or every two weeks, where everyone is offered the chance to provide feedback or share their ideas freely.

Emphasize Team Goals

Another important consideration here is goal-setting. Your team needs some big-picture goals you can all work toward. And while you definitely want to show employees how their individual role or sub-specialty contributes to those goals, you also want to make it clear that they are team goals—goals no one employee can achieve without the help of all the others.

Bottom line: Encourage your team members to consider how their daily work can help everyone to shine.

Those are some of the basics of building trust—but of course, there’s plenty more to discuss. I’d love to chat with you about team-building one-on-one. To learn more, reach out today and ask me about my executive coaching services!

Dr. Rick Goodman CSP is a thought leader in the world of leadership and one of the most sought-after conference keynote speakers on leadership, engagement, and business growth in the United States and internationally. He is famous for helping organizations, corporations, and individuals with systems, strategies, and solutions that encourage engagement, resulting in increased profits and productivity without having the challenges of micromanaging the process. Some of Dr. Rick’s clients include Heineken, AT&T, Boeing, Cavium Networks, IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Franklin Templeton Investments.

You can contact Dr. Rick at www.rickgoodman.com or call 888-267-6098.