THE LEVEL UP LETTER

Hi All!
Here is your weekly Level Up Letter. This week we’re talking about trust. Feel free to forward along if your heart desires. We hope you enjoy!!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

TEN YEARS OVER THE SHOULDER

It ultimately led to me looking for a way out. When I made a transition into a new role I still had it engrained in me to have someone weigh in on what I was doing and await the inevitable feedback. Much to my surprise I heard, “If you’re happy with it, just send it. I trust you.”

After hearing that, I hopped back into the studio, listened again to make sure I actually was happy with it and sent it off. It was a HUGE morale boost and felt like I had the freedom to be creative and proud of my work again.

BUILDING TRUST AS A LEADER

Building trust in your team is key to success. Here are a few best practices to build trust as a team leader.

• Hire people with the skills and empower them to do their job. - If they’re good at what they do, set clear expectations but then get out of the way.

• Be Clear In Your Communication - When we set S.M.A.R.T. goals, a lot of times we see people fail in that first letter. SPECIFIC. Define exactly what success looks like for whatever it is you’re doing.

• Create Feedback Loops - You should be setting up meetings and communication channels to get feedback on progress. Inside of these you should be actively listening and finding ways to unblock problems.

• Be The Example - Your level of commitment should set the bar. If you’re sticking to your commitments, meeting schedules and following through on your side the rest of your team will view you as the example to follow.

BUILDING TRUST AS AN EMPLOYEE

Trust is a two-way street. If you’re looking to grow inside an organization, leaders need to trust you implicitly.

• Consistently Deliver High-Quality Work - Leaders want to see internal high standards from their team and not have to pick things apart for missing details.

• Take Ownership and Show Accountability - Things are going to go wrong. That’s expected in business but the last thing a leader wants to hear is excuses. Own the problems when things go wrong and be accountable for fixing them.

• Bring Solutions but Seek Counsel - I know the general statement is bring solutions, not problems up the food chain but you need to be open to seeking counsel from them as well. A good leader will have a 30,000 foot view of the situation and be able to come up with a solution quickly if you get stuck.

• Demonstrate Integrity - Integrity is foundational to trust. Leaders feel more comfortable confiding in employees who demonstrate discretion and show a high standard of ethical behavior. Nobody trusts the person getting hammered at company events and gossiping.

ONCE IT’S BROKEN

If trust is broken you realistically only have two options.

1. End The Relationship - In most cases, this is the best decision. If you can’t find a way to trust each other, resentment will build, you’ll hate the work environment and will spend a lot of time being miserable. This can have far-reaching effects and poison entire teams.

2. Have The Difficult Conversation - If you’re starting to lose trust in someone, don’t just brush it under the rug. If the relationship is worth fixing, you have to come to the table to work through it. Set the emotions aside and dig in. You probably won’t fully trust each other at the end of it but at least you can start to build it back once all the cards are on the table.

READY TO LEVEL UP?

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