3 Ways to Get Your Team to Trust You

If you've finally worked your way up the ladder and are now in a management positions, congratulations. Now let me offer this advice: You've still got a lot of work to do.

While you may have proven yourself to be a valuable team member, earning your cred as a manager is a whole different ballgame. Instead of being judged on your output, you're going to be judged on your output and the output of your team.

One of the smartest things you can do as a manager is to assess whether you're really being clear on what you want from your team. I'm not talking about: "We all need to pull together" or "There's no 'I' in team."

I'm talking about the day-to-day communications you have with team members, such as directing them on their daily duties or future projects. While many of them may not need a lot of directions, others will need more input from you -- and that's crucial when it comes to setting the tone of your leadership.

Here's some things to keep in mind when directing a team:

1. They are not mind readers. Maybe you think an employee should know that when a client is unhappy that she should not be ignored. But have you made that clear? Have you said, "Brian, when Marisa calls and she's frustrated that a shipment is late, listen to her and determine what she needs from us to make it right."

2. Give them the why. Your team is much more likely to remember your feedback if you explain why it's important to the organization. "Marisa is a key client and her business is growing with her sales doubling in the last quarter. Her success is important to us being able to grow, too. We don't want to lose her trust or she could go to a competitor."

3. Listen.  You may be swamped with work of your own, but brushing off an employee with a question will come back to haunt you. Just taking a minute to listen could save you many headaches later. "Marisa says they're changing their software. Does that mean I should do something different?" says a team member. The heads up about a software change could be significant -- does your team need to meet with IT to figure out new software? Will you be able to offer the same level of service to this client? Will Marisa see you as a dinosaur if you don't change your software?

This all may sound very time consuming and your stress may grow in the beginning. But once you've shown your team that you trust them, they will trust you. That's the kind of bond that will deliver the best results for your career and for the organization.