Why is leadership mentoring important?

Leadership mentoring is crucial for developing the next generation of leaders. It involves intentional personal growth, professional development, and mentorship. A mentor helps to build on an existing foundation of skills and knowledge, facilitating multiplied growth by sharing lessons, challenges, and failures.

How to find a mentor in leadership?

To find a leadership mentor, consider existing connections. Leadership mentorships can be formal, informal, or impersonal. Formal mentorships have defined roles and goals, informal ones are based on trust without defined structure, and impersonal mentorships involve learning from public figures like authors or speakers.

What are some questions to ask your leadership mentor?

Questions to ask a leadership mentor can include: 'Can you review my career plan?', 'How did you handle not being taken seriously as a leader?', 'What legacy do you hope to leave?', 'How do you balance work and life?', and 'What do you wish you had prioritized more in your career?'

How to build a leadership community?

Building a leadership community involves creating a 'Legacy Committee' consisting of various mentors. This committee should include individuals who align with your career aspirations or possess values you admire. The committee can consist of past bosses, coworkers, or other professionals who can offer guidance and support.

7 Ways to Build Trust in a Team

It’s a great time to talk about trust. DDI has dubbed 2024 “The Year of Trust” – and I’ll just tell you it wasn’t because trust is at an all-time high…

All my leaders out there, take note! Trust is a part of the human experience. So, I wanted to compile a list of a few qualities and behaviors you can cultivate to grow, keep, and rebuild trust – you could work on these things for an entire career, but try focusing on one a week and making a conscious effort to grow that skill.

Let’s take a look at how to earn more of this connection currency…

7 qualities, behaviors, and values for leaders looking to build high-trust teams:

#1 Keep your commitments

Do what you say. Be on time. Respond thoughtfully. Honor your commitments. Consistently deliver high-quality work. Respond thoughtfully and thoroughly. When people learn that they can depend on you, they’ll feel so much more secure.

#2 Be authentic

Operate with authenticity and integrity. Avoid promising more than you can deliver, and when challenges arise, communicate openly (and early) about them. And you know what? You don’t have to have all the answers. No one does. Communicating in spite of not having all the answers helps to make you believable.

#3 Make time to connect

Building trust is more than a transaction – it requires personal connection. In truth, everything comes back to connection! Your team members want to know: “Do you really care about me?” Take the time to understand your employees and the people you work with on a deeper level. Actively listen to their concerns, celebrate their successes, and show genuine interest in their well-being. It’s not complicated. 🙂

#4 Demonstrate empathy

It’s basic humanity, but slow down and show kindness, compassion, and concern for what your team members are going through. Understand and acknowledge their challenges. (You can still create and maintain healthy boundaries, especially as the leader.) If you want to open up your empathy, spend some time reflecting on the impact of culture and identity on the ways people navigate communication and connection in the workplace.

#5 Show what you know

First of all, I want you to look past whatever flavor of imposter syndrome may already be setting in and remember that you have knowledge, skills, and experiences that got you here. You were hired for a reason! Continue to hone your skills. Set a high bar for yourself, stay current with industry trends, and don’t hold back from flexing that expertise you worked so hard to earn.

#6 Communicate with transparency

So much of the ability to build trust comes back to the ability to communicate. Whether it’s getting through a tough conversation, creating an environment of psychological safety, or establishing a cadence of routine 1:1s with your team members, communication and trust go hand-in-hand.

#7 Prioritize collective well-being over personal gain

Really internalize the idea that helping your team win is the most important thing you can do. Be quick to give kudos and share credit generously, celebrate achievements, and create a vision for your team everyone wants to play a role in.

Wrapping it up…

Research shows that the less a leader is trusted, the less engaged their team will be in their work. On the flip side, the more trust a leader has to leverage, the better they’re able to inspire and enable their teams to accomplish extraordinary goals.

If you’re coming in as a new leader, you might be credited with more trust than you think – know that you’re not starting from zero, and setting out to create an upward trajectory of trust will go a long, long way.

I’d love to hear your stories or questions about trust and leadership. DM me on LinkedIn!

7 Ways to Build Trust in a Team

Trust is a part of the human experience.