Have you ever heard the saying, “If a relationship doesn’t have trust, then it has nothing”?  This is relevant even in the workplace.  

Being able to trust your employer (and your employees!) is the key to business growth. Without mutual trust in the workplace, there’s a ceiling to what you can accomplish together.  

While there are plenty of ways to build trust within an organization, I’ve learned that, as a business owner, there are 2 ways that are far more powerful than the others. 

Let’s talk about them! 

1) Be Authentic 

Showing up as who you are, and being willing to share parts of your humanity, is what’s going to allow you to connect with those around you, and therefore build trust. Be appropriately vulnerable! 

For tips on how to do this, without oversharing, check out our podcast episode, “How to Be More Vulnerable When You Express Yourself Without Scaring People Away.”  

2) Get to Know Your Employees On A Personal Level 

The #1 BEST way to get to know someone—truly know them—is to share stories.  

Storytelling is a powerful tool that bridges the gap and creates instant, relatable connections. And not just any story…but your personal brand WHY story.  

Letting people in on why you do what you do and why you care will instantly establish trust. It’s important to get to know your employees at this level too!  

For example, my Business Manager Ali, and I have a great relationship…but it wasn’t always this way. In fact, we almost decided to go our separate ways. The reason we didn’t was because we heard each other’s personal WHY stories. From that we knew each other’s motivations and values. This connected us on a deep, meaningful level and made us willing to have tough conversations so that we could continue working together. We both agree, had we not shared our WHY with each other, we likely would have parted ways a few months into our relationship.  

Ultimately, the most powerful ways to build trust and connect with the people you work with are to be authentic and to share your stories. 

If you want to learn more about how to do these two things, be sure to listen to our Crazy Good Talks podcast!