How New Leaders Can Earn Trust Quickly
Whether you’re stepping into a startup as a non-founder leader or hiring your first executive as a founder, it is critical to build trust quickly.
Create a Trust Building Plan
One of the most effective ways to build trust is through a clear plan with frequent check-ins that encourage transparent discussion. At Proletariat, we used a 30-60-90 day structure, focusing on two key aspects.
The Two Pillars of Leadership Trust
Leaders often have two core responsibilities: tasks (the tangible work they produce) and decision-making.
Tasks: This involves skill, execution, and communication. It can range from crafting a presentation to delivering complex projects involving large teams.
Decision-Making: This is about identifying choices, gathering information, assessing possible solutions, managing differing opinions, and ultimately choosing the right path.
Building Trust Through Tasks
To build trust through tasks an individual needs to consistently meet or exceed expectations over time. When creating a trust building plan consider the following:
Communication: A new leader should set clear expectations and create a communication plan that existing leadership and the new leader can use to keep everyone on the same page.
Skill and Competency: New leaders need to build credibility within their team and show that they can apply their skills within the context of where the company is today. Existing leadership should highlight areas where those skills are most needed.
Execution: Successful execution shows grit, team building and problem-solving. When creating a plan be sure to focus on what exactly great execution looks like. Start with tasks that are likely to succeed to help build momentum.
If a task fails, conduct a post mortem to understand what went wrong and set up the leader for future success. Trust is easily lost through a few failed tasks.
Building Trust Through Decision-Making
To build trust through decision-making an individual needs to consistently make “good” decisions based on the organization’s decision-making framework.
Decision-making is about applying a consistent framework that balances team needs, strategic goals, and company values. I recently wrote a post diving deep into how to delegate decision making which discusses this framework.
A trust building plan should lay out how decision-making can be phased over time to give the new leader more and more autonomy as they learn to use the decision making framework. Clear communication on when a new leader should get additional approval, and how much transparency they should provide in the decision-making process, or any other key factors, will help ensure success.
If a wrong decision is made it is critical to post-mortem that decision and fix any issues or misalignment.
Final Thoughts
I know that I trust a new leader when I can delegate a responsibility to them and have full confidence in the outcome. It’s when I can trust them to make decisions, knowing they’ll either choose the path I would have or find an even better one. Trust isn’t built overnight, but through a consistent approach to tasks and decisions, leaders can earn the confidence of their team and set the foundation for long-term success.