This post is part of the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series. Check out the rest of the series!

Successful leadership communicates trust.

It’s that simple. If you want to be successful as a leader, so matter where you are, you must make sure your people know that you trust them.

While this is true for every workplace, this is especially true in ministry, with your students, and especially with your leaders.

If you don’t trust your people, there is no way that you can reach your potential.

Here are a few of the benefits of building trust in your youth ministry:

Trust solves problems

Little problems stay little when you trust your people to take care of them. But little problems become big obstacles when a lack of trust is evident. And these huge obstacles require more energy to be expended in order to untangle the mess and resolve the issue. This will result in hurt feelings, and that will hamstring your ministry’s effectiveness.

But a little trust in your leaders goes a long way to eliminating those problems before they become big. And when you trust your team to take care of those little problems, you build their confidence in how well they think they can tackle the bigger ones when they occur. A little trust goes a long way.

Trust enhances communication

A lack of trust closes communication between you and your team. When your people don’t feel as if you trust them, they become closed, not sharing their thoughts and ideas. And if they aren’t contributing to and buying into your vision, your ministry isn’t growing.

Showing trust opens up the flow of communication, encouraging your leaders to freely share their thoughts and insights. Open lines of communication go a long way in heading off issues before they can become problems.

Trust allows for failure

A low trust environment communicates the expectation of perfection. Your leaders may feel like if they fail, they will let you down. But a higher level of trust communicates that it’s alright to fail. Fear of failure simply results in a failure to try. But eliminating this fear allows people the freedom to try new things. If they fail, no big deal. But if they succeed, then you’ve just allowed your team to step to the next level.

Trust build a positive atmosphere

A high trust environment creates an atmosphere that is light and refreshing. Your people, whether they are part of your leadership team, or the students you are reaching, will want to be involved. They have fun. They enjoy being there. And they want to bring their friends.

Low trust environments are oppressive and dark. People will soon find a reason to leave, maybe permanently. And they will tell their friends just how bad it is.

Building truth in your team isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do. But it pays off in huge ways for your leadership skills and for your ministry’s effectiveness. You can’t afford not to build that trust.

The alternative isn’t worth thinking about.

What do you do to build trust in your ministry? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.