How Leaders Build Followership - Tammy Jersey
So much emphasis is placed on the importance of a leader’s ability to build trust. Other than the obvious reasons for that, the most critical reason is that, without trust, that leader will have a hard time encouraging their team to follow him/her. Without trust, leading others is an uphill battle.
“To be effective, leaders need their team’s trust. But how do you get that trust — and how do you get it back if you’ve lost it? Three behaviors are essential. The first is to create positive relationships on your team. There are several ways to do this, including helping employees cooperate, resolving conflicts between them, giving honest feedback, and checking in with people about their concerns. The second behavior is to demonstrate expertise and judgment. People are more likely to trust you if they believe you have the technical know-how and the experience to make good decisions about the team’s work. The last behavior is to be consistent. You must do what you say you will do. Follow through on your commitments and keep any promises you make. You don’t need to be perfect at these three behaviors to be a trusted leader — but you do need to be good at them.”
The above excerpt is from an article published in the Harvard Business Review entitled How Leaders Build Trust, adapted from The 3 Elements of Trust by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman. This article really resonated with me because of the work I do to help amplify women leaders. Trust amongst colleagues is critical for ensuring that everyone will openly listen to one another. Building trust does not happen overnight — it takes time, honesty, empathy and mutual respect. When trust has been eroded, one’s leadership effectiveness will be called into question.
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Tammy Jersey founded TKJ Leadership, a certified woman-owned business to build high-performance cultures, one leader at a time. Her mission is to encourage leaders to play bigger and with more confidence. Tammy specializes in amplifying women leaders. She dares them to operate outside their comfort zones to get their voices heard, empower their teams, and to be inspiring to others.
