3 leadership principles that build trust

The extraordinary global and oftentimes anxious environment most of us have been living and breathing for the past two and a half years is pushing people to rethink their priorities, both personally and professionally. This moment shines a spotlight on an emerging workplace crossroads, where employees’ wants and needs intersect with their employer’s ability and willingness to respond and accommodate. What sits at the epicenter of this crossroads? Mutual trust.

Building trust is no easy task—even in the simplest of times—and today’s complex hybrid work environments make it even more challenging. The in-person interactions that accelerate trust-building are now fewer and farther between, making technology that helps connect people a crucial centerpiece for trust-building. But technology alone can’t build relationships. People, and the supportive behavior they demonstrate, play a huge role.

I led PwC’s ambitious digital transformation beginning in 2017 as we saw the landscape of work changing. From there, we learned that a successful transformation brings humanity and technology together to solve important problems and hinged on three critical leadership principles: transparency, delivering on investments and commitments and inspiring people to develop new ways of working.

LEAD WITH TRANSPARENCY

Leading transformation efforts of any kind requires elevating employees’ needs alongside those of the organization. And though you can’t always achieve a perfect win-win, being transparent about why you’re making efforts and investments goes a long way toward building trust and employee buy-in….