How to Gauge Trust

Try these 2 questions

Author

Rameel Sheikh
May 01, 2024

Two Questions to Gauge Trust Level

Insight from HBR

When I became a manager for the first time, I didn't worry about my direct reports not understanding the “Why” behind my actions. And as their manager, I thought my direct reports viewed me as their leader.

That's a critical mistake.

Leadership isn't something that comes with a job title. It's a quality you have to earn through your actions and relationships.

And when you're a first-time manager, building that trust with your team is crucial.

To gauge the level of trust in your team, start by asking yourself two critical questions:

  1. Do my reports bring their biggest challenges to me?

  2. And would my reports work for me again?

Now, you might be thinking, "Hey man, this sounds great, but why should I focus on building trust?"

Here are three reasons to do this exercise:

  • Trust is the foundation of high-performing teams. You'll never reach your full potential as a leader or team without it.

  • When your team trusts you, they're more likely to take risks, share ideas, and give honest feedback - all essential ingredients for innovation and growth.

  • Trust is a two-way street. By investing in your relationships with your reports, you're helping them succeed and setting yourself up for long-term success as a leader.

Asking open-ended questions lets you understand what frustrates, motivates, and inspires the team. Don’t waste the opportunity to create deep relationships with them.

Here are some questions to start:

These questions sound basic, but doing the small things right will result in 10x results.

(I didn't follow these when I first started, and it caused me to lose millions in business. That's a story for another time.)

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