It’s time to get working on your trust quotient
Leaders should build trust to accelerate organisational growth and foster team spirit
While intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ) have long been considered the musthaves for a leader, collaboration quotient (CQ) has gained importance of late. Hot on the heels of these quotients is trust quotient! Trust quotient (TQ) stands above all other attributes of leadership.
Trust is the confidence that is born from character and competence. Considering the increasing focus on ethics in the society, leaders need to build these two dimensions of trust with their teams.
The explicit goal of leaders is to elevate trust to strategic advantages – accelerating organisational growth, fostering team spirit, enhancing innovation and excelling in execution.
Some managers assume that others trust them simply by virtue of their titles. But trust doesn’t come as a package with the designation on the business cards. This essential ingredient of leadership has to be earned. And, it takes time! Leaders with a high TQ can build cohesion within a team that helps in achieving meaningful goals.
In this spirit, let me share spectacular six ways to enhance your TQ:
Be the architect of the future: Set a strong vision. Articulate it clearly and succinctly. Excite your team with challenging goals that appeal to their personal pride. It will foster intrinsic motivation at work.
Be your authentic self: It helps in establishing internal level of trust. Openly share your opinions and feelings without any fear of being unaccepted. Don’t camouflage your real self !
Role model assertive communication: Be clear and candid about your mission, purpose, expectations and daily activities. Assert your points positively.
Believe in reverse coaching: It is a powerful concept which involves junior, younger or less experienced team members helping senior and tenured managers on gaining insights into areas such as changing mind-sets, latest technologies and tools etc.
Develop social connections: Stay connected with your team and relevant stakeholders. Trust is all about building relationships.
Celebrate failures: Celebrating success motivates you and your team to perform to higher standards in the next round of projects. Notwithstanding this, a few assignments and decisions may not quite yield the expected or desired outcome. You may face adversity and failure in your attempts to achieve worthwhile goals. As a leader believe in the conventional wisdom that you learn more from failure than success.