Building Trust: How Leaders Can Engender Feelings of Trust Among Followers
ABSTRACT Trust has long been recognized across cultures, industries, and organizations as a key component of social exchange. Yet, in many communities and organizations throughout the world, there is a growing trust deficit. In this paper, we explore what leaders can do to generate trust among the individuals within their organizations to help facilitate better relationships and positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. More specifically, we present a qualitative study in which semi structured interviews with employees at an assisted living care facility highlighted two ways that leaders can build trust within their organization: 1) demonstrating humility in their communication, and 2) exhibiting compassion in their behavior. We further highlight two characteristics, authenticity and proactivity, that can help leaders increase the effectiveness of these actions. By making these behaviors part of how they lead, leaders and managers can more successfully generate feelings of trust among the individuals within their organizations and help their organization to maintain and strengthen its competitive advantage.