Effective organizations have a culture that is characterized by high trust levels. It is very difficult for a company to thrive and grow without trust as a cornerstone in its approach to treating people.
Following are a few qualities that characterize these companies written from the perspective of the leader:
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How you talk to your staff is important. Some guidelines are:
- Be aware of your body language, eye contact and tone of voice. They carry 90% of the message!
- Timeliness – Talk about ‘an event’ right away; as close to the event as possible.
- You must have a relationship with your staff that would allow you to talk about issues when they arise. This requires a high level of trust in the relationship and assumes that both you and your staff have the skills necessary to engage in the conversation.
- Do you praise in public and correct in private or vice versa? Or simply forget to praise? i.e., catch people doing something right!
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How you reassure your staff is important. The best way to reassure your staff is to be an effective leader. They:
- provide support.
- emphasize goals.
- facilitate communication.
- facilitate work (helping staff get the job done).
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Ensure that you treat your staff with integrity by “walking your talk”.
- Be predictable – staff ‘knows’ what kind of response they’ll get.
- Be consistent – staff ‘knows’ they don’t have to deal with unknowns.
- Be fair – staff ‘knows’ everything is being taken into consideration.
- Be congruent – staff ‘knows’ they’ll get the “straight goods” from you.
- Be open – staff ‘knows’ it is OK to approach you.
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Empower your staff by giving them choices.
- Be open to looking at alternatives. Reduce the risk your staff has to take to present alternatives.
- Make it acceptable for both you and your staff to make mistakes.
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Facilitate everyday work situations so your staff has successful outcomes.
- Delegate effectively so that people have enough information to be successful.