Three Things Education Leaders Can Do to Build Trust
The pandemic has caused a crisis of trust for education leaders, even for the most loved district leaders. Only half of parents in a recent EdWeek survey said they trust that schools will keep their children healthy.
Leaders are making difficult, high-stakes decisions every day. They NEED parents to trust them to do the best thing for their children so parents in turn keep their children engaged in learning and the community.
But there is a silver lining: Eight in ten adults say public school principals care about the students in their schools “all or most of the time” or “some of the time,” an important element of trust according to the Pew Research Center. Because they know you care, you’ve got a great foundation for developing trusting relationships with your community.
Here are three ways leaders like you can continue to build trust with the families you serve:
1. Be a real person
As we’ve said before, meeting emotion with emotion will help ensure that you’re building trust with your community. This is because people trust those who are like them. Showing that you have the same hopes and fears builds rapport.
Here are a few tips on how to be authentic:
Be vulnerable and share some of the more emotional aspects of your work
Share your personal ties to education and your community
Simplify your messaging and use real language (we have a resource to help)
Keep your finger on the pulse so you can relate to how the community is feeling
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2. Act in an ethical manner
People grant trust based on two distinct attributes: competence (delivering on promises) and ethical behavior (doing the right thing and working to improve society).
Pull back the curtain to show how you’re living up to these characteristics:
No matter how hard, uncomfortable or scary it is, always speak truthfully
Be transparent about your decisions and how you made them
Share progress on goals and projects
3. Show up and communicate often
Your community needs to hear from you. Trust is not only built by providing accurate information—people won’t know you’re a real person who has the best interests of their children in mind if they don’t interact with you.
Here’s a few ideas of how to do this:
Be part of the community and show up at community events, from pancake breakfasts to farmers markets (once we can safely gather again, of course!)
Communicate regularly (we have resources to help)
Communicate at strategic, powerful moments such as school re-opening, testing season or about current issues in the community
Most education leaders are already checking many of these boxes, but a crisis like COVID-19 can strain trust in even the strongest districts. Revisiting your outreach to make sure you are taking the steps needed to build trust is more important than ever!
