How to Be Seen as Trustworthy

To be seen as trustworthy, you must consistently match your words with reliable actions, empathetic listening, and transparent communication.

To be seen as trustworthy is an apparent asset. As a leader, what can you do to get others to trust you? It’s no simple task, but the evidence indicates certain actions help to build trusting relationships.

. Be open. Mistrust comes as much from what people don’t know as from what they do know. Keep people informed, make the criteria on how decisions are made openly clear, explain the reason for your decisions, be frank about problems, and fully disclose relevant information.

. Be fair. Before making decisions or taking actions, consider how others will recognize them in terms of objectivity and fairness. Give credit where it’s due, be objective and impartial in performance evaluations, and pay attention to equity awareness in reward distributions.

. Speak your feelings. Leaders who communicate only hard facts come across as cold and distant. If you share your feelings, others will see you as real and human.

. Tell the truth. Truth is an essential part of integrity. Once you have lied and been found out, your ability to gain and hold trust is largely lessened. People are generally more open-minded about learning something they “don’t want to hear” than…