Seven Leadership Behaviors that Enhance Trust and Motivation

A true leader is someone who others want to follow. Think of someone you trust who motivates you to be successful. Chances are, you'd be willing to open up and receive guidance from them in important areas of your life. At your law firm, the same applies. In addition, high levels of trust and motivation inspire a growth mindset among employees, decreases anxiety levels, and increase productivity. To enhance trust and motivation, here are seven leadership behaviors you can work on.

1. Share Your Vision

As a leader, you're part of a visionary team, controlling the unique path your firm takes to achieve its goals for the future. Don't monopolize your own vision. Share it with your entire organization. Inviting others to envision with you builds a sense of belonging and excitement. Everyone wants in on the big picture.

2. Lead Daily Communication

Communication doesn't work too well without trust, and vice versa. Effective communication means being transparent, direct, and honest with your employees. And it should happen on a daily basis. Employees can detect secrecy, so if you're ever unsure, opt to overcommunicate. Clear lines of communication also inspire creativity and collaboration.

3. Set The Example

Strive to do as you say, not just tell others what to do. Exceptional leaders know that leading by example is key to keeping employees motivated and gaining their trust. It also sets a standard in work ethics, output, and interactions. When you decisively move toward your vision, it generates confidence in employees. They become motivated to show up and show out to achieve your shared goals.

4. Take Accountability

As a leader, you probably place unnecessary pressure on yourself when the truth is, your employees don't expect you to be perfect. Set the tone for dealing with mistakes by owning up to your own. Employees truly appreciate it when you simply admit you're as human as they are. They'll trust you more and be less hesitant to admit their own mistakes. This gives way for lessons to be learned and improvements made.

5. Give Trust to Receive It

Trust strengthens all human connections. When you trust others, they're way more inclined to trust you in return. In a workplace setting, showing trust can look like delegating important tasks to employees and expressing confidence in their ability to carry them out. It doesn't look like micro-managing or requiring excessive updates. In the new hybrid-remote working world, trust might look like encouraging a work-life balance and not demanding unnecessary check-ins.

6. Practice Active Listening

Each individual in your organization and within your department has unique strengths, weaknesses, needs, and aversions. Active listening not only helps you understand and work on these, but it also shows employees they can trust you. The main part of active listening is, unsurprisingly, to listen more than you speak — carefully and attentively.

7. Adopt A Coaching Mindset

Great leaders are great coaches. They know how to provide clear, effective feedback, and encourage their employees to overcome setbacks and challenges. They can show empathy when needed, leverage trust for the good of the organization, and influence employees to be as self-confident as they are. Of course, next-level coaching is always available through the experienced team of Loeb Leadership. We can elevate your employee development with customized programs to take your existing organizational trust and motivation to new heights. Give us a call today!