Why Women Are More Trusted Than Men, and How to Use Trust to Our Advantage

By Vanessa Hall “The Trust Lady” and author of The Truth About Trust in Business

In a recent survey by Management Today and the Institute of Leadership and Management, female CEOs were found to be more trusted than their male counterparts. In a number of sales training sessions I’ve attended over the years, women have been lauded as more trustworthy sales people than their male colleagues.

At the same time, women are more sensitive to trust and mistrust. In a survey I conducted through an independent researcher we found that only 1 in 20 women will deal with someone they like but do not trust, as opposed to 1 out of 5 men.

So what does this all mean for women in leadership?

We know that people follow trusted leaders. People buy from people they trust. We stay in relationships with partners we trust. Destroy that trust or abuse it in any way, and we no longer follow, we no longer buy, we no longer stay in that relationship. And women often bail more quickly than men.

What female leaders seem to have to their advantage is a much more intuitive response to trust and an openness to change. There are certainly exceptions but in my experience, women understand how important trust is, are prepared to do what it takes to build that trust, and are far more careful to ensure it isn’t broken.

We know that when trust is actively built across an organization, there is a direct return on what I call the 3 Rs of Trust – Results, Retention and Relationships. In fact, global consulting firm Towers Watson proved that companies that developed high levels of trust were able to generate shareholder returns 3 times that of companies with low levels of trust, a statistic we’ve also proven. Those improvements in returns are largely due to the improvement in relationships within the company, between managers and staff, between teams, as well as with customers and other stakeholders.

Most male CEOs and executives want to cut to the chase. If something can improve the bottom line, does not require them to take a good, hard look at themselves, and does not involve anything “touchy feely,” then they’ll go for that option – cost cutting, lay-offs, quick and “effective.” While they might be “effective” measures in the short term, they are trust destroyers. Executives can spend years convincing employees, shareholders and customers that they really do still have their interests at heart. Promises are made to a skeptical group of stakeholders who know better than to believe them.

Women leaders have the capacity to be more balanced in their decision-making. They examine consequences to the individual, the employees, the customers and the shareholders and they seek a win-win solution. They search for longer-term solutions, are prepared to take a good look at themselves and change their behavior, and will work on relationships and retention strategies as a way to improve results. Are there exceptions to this? Absolutely. But women leaders are proven to be more trusted than men, and I believe that trend will only improve as women step up to the challenge and trust themselves more in their leadership.

Self-trust is the biggest killer to women in leadership. It’s the reason there are not more of us in leadership roles, and it’s the reason women hold back from putting themselves forward for promotions.

The greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity for women in leadership is to build and restore trust in the business world, in their homes and families and in the broader community they serve. To achieve that, they also need to build trust in themselves.

Here are a few tips on how to do just that:

1. Understand the Expectations of All Stakeholders. This requires honest communication, relationship building, and the ability to be open to suggestions you may not want to hear. The trick is that you want to know what people really expect of you as a leader, of the organization and of your products and services. Not necessarily what they want, but what they expect. The expectations determine how your stakeholders behave toward you.

2. Understand the Needs of All Stakeholders. This is about understanding what really drives them, why they follow you and why they buy from you. It boils down to a few key things (I draw on Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs): a physiological need, a need for safety and security, a need for belonging, a need for esteem and respect or a need for self actualization, for growth, learning, freedom. Knowing what motivates your stakeholders and then meeting that for them helps you maintain their trust.

3. Make the Right Promises, and Keep Them. It’s easy to promise things, but Promising something that nobody expects or needs is a waste of your time, money and effort. People will be drawn to your promises when they meet their expectations and needs, but they will leave and feel betrayed if you promise things and don’t deliver.

Expectations, Needs and Promises, what I call ENPs®, are the foundation bricks of a trusting relationship. Trust sits on a balance of these three bricks and if you get it right, trust will remain strong. The same ENPs apply to developing self-trust.

The key thing women in leadership should remember is that trust is fragile. Handle it with care!