What makes a great leader

There are so many traits making a great leader. Let's talk about a crucial element of leadership: TRUST

Trust is fragile. It takes tremendously time and effort to build, yet it can be shattered in an instant.

Trust is mutual, if you don't trust your team, your team won't trust you.

Trust is that your team members can share about their struggles honestly, and trusting that you will not use their vulnerabilities to work against them.

Trust is you, as a leader, advocate and protect your team members' benefits, especial during the critical moments.

Throughout my career, I prioritize to earn and keep my team's trust. Let me share an example.

During one year's performance review cycle, I told my manager that one of my skip level team members was ready for a promotion. The leader disagreed, but I persisted. I listed the achievements and impacts of that person, and insisted that we put the person into the promotion candidates pool and let the process decide whether they are qualified. The promotion process was stringent, consisting of formal nomination form of multiple pages, multiple interviews with different leaders, a candidate handler, mentors/sponsors, a scorecard from the interviewers. In the end, a committee of senior leaders made the final decision. My team member was the top #1 candidate among the list.

Through this process, I earned unwavering trust from that team member. Had I not "fight" for them, their career trajectory could be very different.

Remember, I took a career risk to "fight" for them because it was the right thing for do.

What are your ways to build trust with your team members?