“Good leadership starts with trust” says one of WBC’s leadership directors, “But leaders have to earn trust and if they don’t team performance will fall dramatically”.

WBC has developed a model for to help leaders to build up their and team members trust in one another.  It’s called CREST and it has five elements:

  1. Credibility.  This is having the experience and the qualifications followers expect – often these will be the hard skills.
  2. Reliability.  Earning a reputation for delivering on promises, for your actions to match your words.
  3. Empathy.  A crucial people skill – leadership is all about knowing your followers – understanding what they want and need.
  4. Safety.  Underpinning everything is safety. Some argue there are two distinct safety roles for leaders – a governance role, driven by HSE regulations, and a cultural one, creating an environment where staff feel safe asking questions and taking risks – we’d argue it’s the same role – it’s about finding the sweet spot where leaders provide a perfect balance of safety with the encouragement of risk taking.
  5. Time.  Trust cannot be earned overnight. It requires consistent behaviour over time, but also it requires leaders giving their own time for their followers, being prepared to stop and listen, and pay attention.

When you have a moment of quiet time to yourself, make a note of:

  1. Credibility – what qualifications/experience have I got that gives me credibility in my business? What stories could I tell? Where are my gaps?
  2. Reliability – find 2 examples in my career – one where I have delivered on a promise, one where I have not; what caused the “not”? What might I have done differently?
  3. Empathy – what have I done to find out what followers want and need? Have I ever ignored the feelings and expectation of followers?
  4. Safety – find 2 examples in my career where I have provided a safe environment and where I have not; what caused the “not”?
  5. Time –  what do I do to make sure I give time to my followers?

This simple reflection and analysis will be the starting point for develpping trust in you and your team.

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