5 things successful managers do to earn respect and build trust

Climbing the career ladder isn’t easy, but it becomes even tougher when you start to upset people on the way up. While stepping into executive positions is likely to require an element of self-promotion, successful managers also have a sense of modesty.

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Business leaders told ZDNET that humble leaders make their staff feel valued and inspired. Here are five ways they suggest to reach the top without letting it go to your head.

1. Stay rooted to the floor

Claire Thompson, group chief data and analytics officer at financial services giant L&G, said her father gave her a best-practice tip for staying humble.

“He was always clear you should be nice to people on the way up because you never know who you’ll meet on the way back down,” she said. “That sentiment has stayed with me and I think it’s important. Treat everyone with the respect with which you would want to be treated. My family keeps my feet firmly rooted on the floor.”

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Thompson told ZDNET her humility translates into a recognition in the workplace that you can never know all the answers, no matter how high up the corporate ladder you climb. “There are people out there with many different ideas,” she said. “In a leadership position, it’s not about having all the answers. It’s about respecting a team of individuals.”

Thompson said humble leaders help people demonstrate their skills and achieve their potential. “It’s fascinating when you help people, watching them grow and flourish,” she added.

“That’s probably the key thing for me. I’ve realized I don’t need to have all the answers. Some amazing, talented people are way cleverer than I am on many different topics.”

2. Let your staff take the stage

Nick Woods, CIO at MAG, a UK airport group that owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands Airports, said humble leaders leave their egos at the door.

“I love what I do — there are no two ways about it. I think my passion and my enthusiasm for my work shine through. But success is all about partnerships. I’m only as good as the team,” he said.

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Woods told ZDNET he doesn’t take credit for his team’s work. As a humble leader, he allows staff to take center stage — and only offers support when required.

“I’m not someone who says, ‘Right, you’ve done a great presentation, guys. Now, I’m going to show that to the board.’ I let them present their work and showcase their ideas,” he said. “I’m happy to sit in the background and provide support when they get challenged in those rooms to help them get where they need to be.”

Woods said the result is a workplace where everyone works hard but feels rewarded for the efforts they contribute. “We treat each other fairly and with respect. We win as a team and lose as a team, it’s as simple as that,” he stated.

“That’s an approach that’s true in my immediate team and the wider organization where we deliver programs and solutions.”

3. Keep absorbing new things

Rahul Todkar, head of data and AI at travel specialist Tripadvisor, said the rapid pace of technology change is enough to keep any digital and data leader humble.

“The amount of innovation happening is incredible,” he said. “I sit in Silicon Valley and have many friends around me leading and driving change. When you interact with these folks, you realize the pace of change and innovation is unbelievable. The rate of change automatically allows you to think, ‘You don’t know as much as you might think you do.’ And this sense keeps you grounded.”

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Todkar told ZDNET he couples a recognition of the rate of change to a desire to be educated.

“From day one, since I started my career, I’ve always had a learning mindset. My philosophy is that, no matter what, don’t go into a room with a know-all mindset. Instead, have a learn-all mindset,” he said

“Try to absorb as much from others in the room and whatever circle you’re in. The technology space is evolving, and I’ve seen that the folks who can keep up and have an open-learning mindset are the leaders who stay on top.”

4. Act like a cultural broker

Like other senior business leaders, Niall Robinson, head of product innovation at the Met Office, the UK’s national weather and climate service, said he loves learning.

“In my role, I have to think about the desirability, feasibility, and viability of projects,” he said, suggesting the knowledge to deal with those challenges comes from a collective rather than an individual approach.

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Robinson told ZDNET the other important part of his role is being what the Harvard Business Review calls a cultural broker. “These are people who understand different communities,” he explained. “They understand enough about those communities to go and ask questions and connect the dots between them.”

Robinson said that an effective cultural broker in the workplace is constantly curious and can ask what might appear like stupid questions in a useful way. “So, the way you [fail] is to waltz into a room and try and [act like] you know everything,” he said, referring to leaders who get too full of themselves.

“The key to staying humble is being constantly told by experts what I don’t know — and that’s my job.”

5. Work with smart people

James Fleming, CIO at the Francis Crick Institute, said staying humble is far from the biggest problem in his world-leading research organization.

“That’s not a problem working at the Crick,” he said, referring to the fact that the Institute is one of Europe’s biggest biomedical labs and home to more than 1,500 scientists working to cure diseases.

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“Honestly, I frequently feel like the idiot in the room. Associating with bright people, in your team and across the organization you’re working with, always helps you stay humble.”

Fleming told ZDNET that working with smart people means he always feels tested. Humility, in short, comes with the territory.

“I think the key is constantly seeking fresh challenges and learning things you don’t understand and haven’t mastered in your career,” he said. “With technology, you can never master all of it. And even when you’re getting close, you’ve probably forgotten the other stuff you thought you knew.”

Fleming encourages would-be leaders to find a working environment that offers new challenges: “Being curious brings you back down to earth when you realize the things you don’t know.”