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It doesn’t take long for people to spot a fraud. You’ve probably already spotted one or two at work yourself and already know how important it is to be authentic and honest with employees. But how do you build the real trust between manager and staff?

What your team wants from you is consistent behaviour. They need to see an underlying logic to your decision making. They need to feel that you are always fair – even if they don’t like a decision.

This consistency always comes from a stable character. But what is character? Character is usually a combination of the qualities that make up an individual. Some qualities can be attributes such as ‘determined’, ‘persevering’ or ‘enthusiastic’. Other qualities are more to do with your moral code: ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’, ‘fairness’.

case study A recently promoted manager called me to ask for advice. “The trouble is I don’t do small talk, Michael. I know that managers should, but it’s just not what I’m good at.” “Then let them know” I suggested. “Sit them down and tell them what your strengths are. Then tell them what you don’t do.

They’ll understand.” And they did. I also think they appreciated her honesty. She started off being truthful from the start. She avoided pretending to show a quality that she didn’t really have. But she showed a great quality that she did have: always wanting to be honest with her team.

Now do the following exercise:

1 Identify your character traits. Take a sheet of paper and write all of the qualities you believe you have. Try to identify at least 10 to 15 traits.

2 Agree the traits. Show these traits to someone who knows you well. A partner, friend or colleague who will give an honest opinion.

3 Mentally ‘sign up’ to these character traits. Make a pact with yourself that this is the ‘real you’ and the behaviour you will always try to demonstrate.

4 Keep these traits with you. Put the list in a discreet place where you can quickly find it.

5 Use this list of character traits for your tough decisions. Next time you have a tough thing to do, make sure that it reflects the character traits you signed up to.

Your employees may question your decisions but should never have cause to question your character.