Trust underpins modern leadership; in the past leaders could rely on fear and authority to make things happen, but today leadership is about collaboration, inspiration and persuasion. People are far more likely to do something for someone they trust, and far more likely to be loyal to a company or brand they trust.

David Horsager, author of The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships and a Stronger Bottom Line put it this way : ‘You have a compelling vision, rock-solid strategy, excellent communication skills, innovative insight and a skilled team, but if people don’t trust you, you will never get the results you want. Trust affects a leader’s impact and the company’s bottom line more than any other single thing.’

Why is trust so important? The writers Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau, authors of The Trusted Leader, argue that trust inside a company provides focus, fuels passion, fosters innovation, and helps employers to hire and retain the best employees. If people trust their leaders, they want to give them their best.

Creating an atmosphere of trust takes work, and it should never be neglected for as long as you are a leader. Here’s David Horsager again: ‘Trust is like a forest. It takes a long time to grow and can burn down with just a touch of carelessness.’

But how do you create trust? People don’t trust leaders automatically, just by virtue of the fact that they are a leader; trust has to be earned. As a leader that means:

• People believe that you have integrity
• They believe that you are good at your job
• They share your vision for the company
• They believe you are committed to doing what you say you are going to do.

The biggest thing to remember is that trust must be mutual; people are far more likely to trust you if you are prepared to put your trust in them. Writing on Forbes.com, Charles Green said: ‘We too often talk about trust as if it were a singular thing; it’s not. Trust is a relationship established between a trustor and a trustee. It takes two to tango, and two to trust.’

At Space2be we talk a lot about ‘trusted connections’ – the relationships that drive a successful business forward. These rarely happen by accident; they must be built, nourished and protected.

Trusting people often takes a leap of faith and many people find trusting others very difficult, for a variety of reasons. But we can help by encouraging you to recognise and exercise your ‘trust’ muscles. This might mean raising your self-awareness through feedback or coaching, or by practising trusted conversations with corporate role-players on a training programme, or the facilitation of a ‘team coaching’ session where the subject of trust, connection and barriers to this can be aired and worked through.

A man who does not trust, can never be trusted.  – Lao Tzu