Employees look to their managers, and their leaders to help them make sense of complexities within their own organization, as well as the external world. They seek reassurance that their own experiences and perspective is accurate and that there exists an adequate framework to create and maintain stability and move forward.
I’ve been thinking about this as events and news have unfold this year. More than ever before, employees need to be able to trust their leaders.
According to a recent article published by Harvard Business Review, trust is comprised of four components:
- Competence: the ability to get the job done
- Motives: our reasons (or reasoning)
- Fair means: consistency in applying the same rules to offer rewards or assign punishments.
- Impact: the consequences of all actions
In a chaotic world, business leaders cultivate trust and help their employees when they clarify their values, develop their communication abilities, and connect in meaningful ways.
Clarify Your Values
What are your values today? Are you living your best life accordingly?
Your values are the underlying foundation in how you make decisions and take action (or non-action.) They are at the core of your motives, how you prioritize, and the sacrifices you make to reach your goals. Your values have a great impact in how you reconcile conflict.
At some time in our lives, most of us feel the need to assess our values: what is truly important to us. Unfortunately, we often avoid this task; it’s much easier to keep doing what we’re doing. But then something happens that jolts us out of our complacency, maybe the loss of a promotion or position, or the respect of a colleague.
Consider your attitude in relation to other people. What are your obligations to your family, friends, and community? What will you leave as a legacy to the next generation? As a mentor, what values or core beliefs would you want to pass on? Identifying your values today will help you understand what drives you, what motivates you, and what inspires you. It will help you become more effective in everything you do.
Identify Your Values Today
Below is a sample of values. If you were to rank each from 1 – 10 (with one being the most important to you), what would be your top five? Your top two? What might you add to the list?
What do you think? As manager, what actions are you taking to connect in meaningful ways with your team members? I’d love to hear from you about what you’ve tried. Reach out to me here at Simply Lead Coaching or on LinkedIn.