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12MinuteLeadership
Welcome to the 12 Minute Leadership podcast where in 12 minutes or less I’ll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a BIG difference in your leadership effectiveness.
I’m your host, Elise Boggs Morales, leadership professor, consultant, and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results! If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place.
Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team’s engagement, inspire top performance and retain your best talent.
12MinuteLeadership
Episode 9: 3 Ways to Quickly Rebuild Trust as a Leader | 12MinuteLeadership
Trust lies at the heart of leadership effectiveness. When it breaks down—through miscommunication, unfulfilled expectations, or leadership missteps—rebuilding it becomes crucial. Stephen Covey wasn't exaggerating when he called trust "the operating system in every relationship." Without it, teams stagnate, conversations stay superficial, and results suffer.
Drawing from my 17 years of leadership expertise, I share three powerful, actionable strategies to quickly restore trust with your team. First, acknowledge rather than avoid difficult situations. Accountability isn't a sign of weakness—it's a hallmark of authentic leadership that actually builds credibility. I share a personal story from my twenties when I had to own a major travel mistake while leading a team in South Africa, and how taking full responsibility unexpectedly strengthened my relationship with the group.
The second trust builder centers on clear, consistent communication. During uncertain times, people need transparency more than ever. Even when you don't have all the answers, regular updates demonstrate respect and reliability. Finally, follow through with integrity—not just on major commitments but especially on small promises that demonstrate your changed approach. As Brené Brown teaches, integrity means choosing what's right over what's easy and living your values rather than just professing them.
Ready to strengthen your leadership influence? Remember that trust isn't rebuilt through grand gestures but through intentional daily choices. Start with one small step today using these strategies, and you'll be surprised how quickly trust can not only be restored but strengthened. Subscribe to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast for more practical wisdom to help you increase engagement, inspire performance, and retain your best talent.
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Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast where, in 12 minutes or less, I'll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a big difference in your leadership effectiveness. I'm your host, elise Boggs-Morales leadership professor, consultant and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results. If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place. Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team's engagement, inspire top performance and retain your best talent. Ready to level up your influence and get better results. 12 Minutes starts now. Hi everyone, elise here, welcome to episode nine three ways to quickly rebuild trust as a leader.
Speaker 1:Today, we're talking about something every leader will face at some point rebuilding trust and I thought this was a great episode coming off the heels of last week, because we talked about why every leader needs a 360. And, if you'll remember, 360 reviews are about getting feedback about where you're strong and where you need improvement as a leader, and it's sometimes within the feedback that we receive that we realize maybe we've broken trust in some areas unintentionally with our teams. So how do we go about repairing it. Whether it's a misstep, a breakdown in communication or a tough season that distanced you from your team, trust can take a hit, but the good news is that you can rebuild it, and often faster than you think if you're intentional. I find that so much in life and leadership success is about being intentional. So in this episode I'll walk you through three powerful ways to quickly regain the trust of your team and establish credibility the trust of your team and establish credibility. But first let's talk about why trust matters.
Speaker 1:Trust isn't a nice to have. It's the foundation of all healthy relationships and, at the end of the day, if you're going to be influential with your team, it's about having a relationship with those you lead. As Stephen Covey says in his book the Speed of Trust, trust is the operating system in every relationship and without it nothing else works. Without trust, people hold back, conversations stay surface level and teams lose momentum. But when trust is strong, people engage, they speak up, they take risks and deliver better results. People engage, they speak up, they take risks and deliver better results. So if you've ever wondered how to get back on track with your team, these three moves are your go-to strategy.
Speaker 1:Trust builder number one acknowledge and don't avoid. So obviously, when trust is broken, it can be an uncomfortable situation. I have leaders that get 360 feedback and sometimes they're not quite sure how to bridge the gap with their teams right after they've gotten that feedback. But the worst thing that a leader can do is stay silent. Ignoring the issue doesn't make it go away. It just leaves people to fill in the blanks themselves, and they usually don't assume the best. So the fastest path forward is to name it and own it.
Speaker 1:There's a great talk by author Brene Brown called the Anatomy of Trust. You can find it on YouTube, and what I love about it is that she defines trust into its seven measurable components, and one of those components is accountability. Okay, she defines accountability as taking ownership of mistakes, apologizing sincerely and making amends, which often means acknowledging the impact. It could be saying something like I know I missed the mark with how I handled that project and I want to take responsibility. I realize that caused extra work and stress for you and I will be more mindful next time. You don't need a 10-minute apology, just a sincere moment of accountability. People do not expect a leader to be perfect, but they do expect them to be honest and accountable. The pressure to be perfect is often a pressure that we put on ourselves. We think if we miss the mark somehow it will undermine others' view of our competency. But it's just not true. Missing the mark occasionally makes us human and people can relate to that. And when you're willing to acknowledge a gap whether it was a broken promise, unclear communication or showing up distracted it actually builds credibility.
Speaker 1:I experienced this myself when in my 20s, I was working for a non-profit and part of my job was taking groups of college students abroad to do development work. One particular summer we were in South Africa. We'd had a great trip and closed it out with a safari, and then we headed to the airport and when I went to check in our group for our flight, I realized the flight had left the previous day. And in that moment there was a couple options. I could blame that on the airline or some kind of error on their part, or take accountability as the leader for misreading the itinerary and not getting us out on time. And I knew that facing the team would be difficult because it would delay us by a couple days getting home. But I did decide to own it, to take accountability, and I was met with a lot of grace, in fact, for the rest of the time, us figuring out how to get home and make all those adjustments. Everybody stepped in to help, everybody stepped in to support, and I was pleasantly surprised that accountability was actually a magnetic quality rather than a quality that caused my team to question my credibility. So once we've been accountable, once we've owned it, what's next?
Speaker 1:Trust builder number two is communicate clearly and consistently. So once you've acknowledged the issue, the next step is to communicate clearly and consistently. This means saying what you're going to do to improve, being transparent about progress and checking in regularly. If your team has been in the dark, even unintentionally, trust is rebuilt with clarity. This is especially important during uncertain times. Maybe there have been layoffs and people are afraid of who's next. The key is not to make people guess. Be intentional about staying ahead of communication. Some things that you could say are here's what you can expect from me moving forward, or here's how I'll keep you in the loop, or if something changes, I'll let you know by X date. I've worked with many leaders closely during COVID who did this very well. Even if they didn't know what was next, they consistently kept the lines of communication. Open Consistency is what builds reliability, and reliability is the currency of trust. So, now that you've owned it, now that you've communicated about things going forward, what's next?
Speaker 1:Trust builder number three is following through with integrity. This is where many leaders lose people, even after a great apology or well-meaning update. If you say you're going to do something, do it, even the small stuff. Show up, respond, give the feedback you promised. Follow through on the invitation for lunch. Don't cancel at the last minute again. Whatever the commitment, follow through.
Speaker 1:I want to circle back again on Brene Brown's talk, the Anatomy of Trust. As I mentioned before. She breaks down trust into seven components, one of them being accountability. Another one of them is integrity, and I love the way that she defines it. She defines integrity as choosing courage over comfort, choosing what is right over what is fast, easy or fun, and living your values, not just professing them, because your actions become evidence. The fastest way to rebuild trust is to create small wins that show you are genuinely committed. If you want your team to feel heard, respond to their email within the day. Want to show you're committed to better communication. Show up five minutes early to your next one-on-one and bring notes. Every follow-through is a deposit into the trust bank and, as leaders, one of our greatest areas of leverage is having relational equity with those we lead.
Speaker 1:So let's recap the three things that you want to do to quickly rebuild trust as a leader. Number one acknowledge, don't avoid. Own the issue, don't dance around it. Number two communicate clearly and consistently. Set expectations, follow up and reduce uncertainty. And number three follow through with integrity. Keep your word, even in small ways. Show that change is happening.
Speaker 1:So here's a challenge for this week. Think about one relationship where trust may be strained. Then take one small step using what you heard today. Maybe it's a message to acknowledge something that went wrong. Maybe it's a clear update to reset expectations. Or maybe it's a promise you need to follow through on Today. Whatever it is, start small and start now, because trust can be rebuilt and when it is, it becomes even stronger than before.
Speaker 1:So I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If this helped, you, share it with one other leader. You know who might need it. And remember trust isn't a one-time win, it's a daily choice. So make a choice to make a deposit in someone's trust bank today. I'll see you next time. Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also pick up my book Lead Anyone on Amazon. Then go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to wwweliseboggscom for more info.