Shawnee Love   •  
May 3, 2010

I got so excited about open, honest communication over breakfasts with leaders last week; I forgot to share some other great ideas to showcase how trustworthy you are.

When I ask employees what they want from their managers, a common answer is “a manager who has my back”.

Do you have your employees’ backs? If a complaint comes in, do you ask what happened instead of “What did or didn’t you do George?” Even if you mean to ask what happened, listen to yourself, because when we are rushed or stressed, we often don’t take the time to consider our language or tone and what it sounds like to be on the other end.

Another suggestion I have for all you trustworthy leaders out there is to make it easy for your employees to do their jobs. Remove barriers to work like red tape and poor performers in the team (yes, you get my drift!).

And have you heard of setting goals the S.M.A.R.T way? This acronym for goal setting refers to goals that are:

Specific- So the employee knows exactly what she has to do.

Measurable- So the employee knows how she’ll achieve it.

Agreed Upon- So the employee, you and other stakeholders are all working together to help her accomplish it.

Realistic- So the employee has the capability and resources to be successful.

Time sensitive- So the employee has enough but not too much time to meet the goal.

Fundamental to the SMART method of goal setting is that the goals be challenging but possible. If you are doing the leg work to ensure these SMART criteria are met for each goal you and your employees set together, then you may be a Trustworthy Leader.

I’d love to hear more about how you demonstrate your trustworthiness to your employees and will post some of the best examples on upcoming blogs.