Gaining the Trust of Your New Team

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Let your team know they can rely on you for support.

When you're a new team leader, it can be difficult to get your team to trust you. You have no history, and people don't know if they can rely on you.

However, if you start the relationship properly, you can build trust steadily. And, if you've faltered a bit in your trustworthiness, you can use the basics of trust-building to regain your credibility and move forward.

No matter what brings you to want to build trust, it's essential that you take on the challenge. When you have trust, you have the basis of building a high performing team. Without it, people won't accept your leadership, and they'll spend so much time covering their backs that you'll find it difficult to get anything done.

If people don't trust you, no amount of team building or recognition will motivate people to work together well. Without trust there is no "we", and with no "we" there is no team.

To create a high performing team you have to prove yourself trustworthy. Your team must believe in you as a person and as a leader. From there, they'll work hard to get the job done, because they know that you won't lead them astray.

Here are some steps you can take to become a trustworthy leader....