Balancing Efficiency & Trust in Ministry Staff/Volunteers (Part 5 of 5)

#4 Trust - is it achievable?

a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b : one in which confidence is placed 

 To gain it from those you lead you must:

• Be fair, firm and consistent
• Treat you leaders as equal partners
• Provide Clarity
• Serve them, resource them and champion the great ideas
• Be an example of Integrity
• Be honest, transparent and open
• As difficult as it is, don't slander leaders to other leaders (especially when leader need to talk to you about a concern with another)
• Be wise in what you promise; no matter what, you need to fulfill them

To have trust in your leaders

• CELEBRATE SUCCESSES
• HAVE THE HARD CONVERSATIONS - Don't let questions about something fester in your head.  Go seek clarity.  When you don't do this out of fear of offending, your "questions" turn to distrust.
• UNDERSTAND THEIR REASONING - Learn how they make decisions, why they make them and what are their top priorities.
• HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON BOARD - As hard as this seems, if you can not get to a point where you can trust, you need to remove them from the team.  Of course, you need to have taken all of the healthy steps with that person to remove the distrust.  Your ministry, vision and mission will never succeed when you have leaders you do not trust on your team.

Andy Stanley refers to leadership as a stewardship. Most of the initiative is on you both to gain trust from those you lead and to have it in those you lead.  It falls on you.