Build Trust Among Others

As a leader, the odds are pretty good that at one-time you have had a vision for something, but have it slowed down by others.

Having led many meetings for a volunteer based nonprofit program called A Day of Hope, I have experienced the feeling of wanting to move forward but having to wait for volunteers to catch my vision. These were times when I believed that I knew what was best for our program, I believed I knew what we needed to do to move it forward, but I couldn’t get the volunteers to move with me. This can be extremely frustrating when you are trying to serve people in need. 

On the flip side, there are times when my volunteers had a high level of trust in me as the leader and they followed me even when they didn’t understand everything or agree. These were times when the volunteers knew my heart was to serve and help people in need, and if I believed we needed to do something in order to do that more effectively, they would trust my discernment and insight.

I personally saw this lived out on a much higher and more influential level when observing the Church Assistance Ministry (CAM) board meeting last week. I observed a group of godly men who were faithfully following their leader, Steve Elliott. As Steve led the CAM board meeting, I was able to observe him lead a discussion about a big decision to be made. Even though a couple of the board members did not quite understand all the details and facts of the decision, they allowed him to lead and proceed with the idea because they had a high level of trust in him as their leader.

When Steve and I met after the board meeting to debrief about what I observed, he summed up my thoughts by pointing out that “When you get people who trust you, they will follow you along even if they don’t understand you.”

You too, as a leader need build trust among others. When you build trust among others, it allows you to go faster, which every leader loves!

Question: How do you build trust among others?

Posted by Christopher Scott, CAM Intern