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How Can You Build Trust?

The weeds of email continue to stack up. Your budget was just slashed 20% for the year to come. You’re preparing for that quarterly earnings call and know the media is looking for an alarming sound bite that can send Wall Street and your stock sideways. Worst of all? You simply don’t know how much longer this pandemic is going to continue.

These are our realities today, leaders. We’re at the mercy of other people, other agendas and a worldwide catastrophe that is making it harder and more difficult to not just hit a plan—but build a plan for the year to come. The good news, (yes, there is good news) is that all of us—including your competition—are feeling the heat of the above.

So now what? You can “poor me” it to death or you can shift the mindset which can help you proactively power through it all. Here are 5 sure-fire ways to be more courageous with yourself, your team and your work.

5. Wait Less, Experiment More

I am on record saying that your #1 competitor in business is not another competitor. It’s time. We are overthinking or waiting far too long to experiment. If you want to be a good teammate then you need to learn how to be a good timemate. How to do so? Implement the ways below.

Remember, the worst thing you can do is to keep what you’re feeling to yourself—which is doing nothing at all. If you’re feeling an issue, then most likely someone else on your team is too.

4. Create the Forum for That Hard Conversation

Our phone at Courageous rings for one of three reasons: a prospect is stuck, scared or spinning. My business partner Billy Collins always likes to remind me that we’re in the business of delivering clarity, belief or a forum for a hard conversation. Ask yourself right now…what keeps YOUR team up at night? We fear these conversations. We don’t want to hurt a co-workers feelings or even speak the truth about a tough problem to a peer or superior…especially when we don’t have a solution to bring to the table. But acknowledging that you have a problem brings you one step closer to searching for an answer. Be the person who brings people together even when it’s hard. Heck, print this out and share this with your group if you need to. Remember, the worst thing you can do is to keep what you’re feeling to yourself—which is doing nothing at all. If you’re feeling an issue, then most likely someone else on your team is too.

Ryan Berman
Ryan Berman
Ryan is an author, keynote speaker, and the founder of Courageous. His book, Return on Courage, shows how during these courage deficient times, courage is a competitive advantage for those leaders who choose to unlock it.
Twitter @ryanberman | LinkedIn @ryanberman

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