Strategies to build trust as a new leader joining a team
Here are 5 tips I shared with a recent Leadership bootcamp cohort when asked about strategies to build trust as a new leader when you inherit a team.
Take time to know your team, peers and stakeholders - learn about their work without judgement and with curiosity. Eg: Coffee sessions to learn about their background, experience and work they do.
Be resourceful - find out opportunities where your team, peers and stakeholders immediately need you and where you can support them. Think of them as quick-wins and opportunities to pair on problems together. Instead of working in isolation, I suggest co-create solutions so that they get to know how you solve problems. The first interactions matter a lot. Figure out what they expect of you so that you ca
Be vulnerable and avoid tendency of a know-it-all : As a leader, you may have areas of expertise and often this is useful for your team, peers and stakeholders to leverage your expertise. Acknowledging that you don't know a lot yet, and you need to rely on your team to get their insights and opinions to factor in when making decisions is critical. It does not mean you have to do what they want you to do, but rather acknowledging that you need their input even if you chose to make a decision that they may not agree.
Be open and transparent about your progress knowing about the team, its challenges and where they shine. Sharing observation and checking with your team and peers about your observation gives a chance for them to participate in your act as a leader - whether its about improving the processes, recognizing people and team issues, finding out issues with the delivery of work etc.
Be visible and be present - In the initial days, you want to be seen with your team, in hard times and good times. Find out opportunities where you can celebrate your team wins and facilitate conversations about failures to improve next time. Taking notes in meetings and sharing those with the participants indicates that you care for the interactions and conversations. I do this very actively as a habit these days, and I suggest leads, new or experienced, to practice this on an ongoing basis.
Here is an interesting podcast and excerpt where Tobi from Shopify talks about Trust battery : fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/tobi-lutke/
This is one of the many things that were discussed in the last Leadership Bootcamp cohort. If you are interested in future cohorts, signs up are open now.