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By Rachael O’Meara, Managing Partner, Leadership Development ExpertHow is your team doing - whether it’s a founding team, a sales team, or a leadership team - at building trust these days?After spending thirteen years in sales at Google and over 25 years in the tech industry, I can confidently say that trust is the cornerstone of success. Whether it's with your team, boss, or clients and prospects, generating trust opens doors and leads to more fruitful relationships.One of the key aspects of creating trust, is to build your EQ, or emotional intelligence, so that you can help others feel more safe to share honestly, openly, and have difficult conversations. This is known as <a data-mce-href="https://hbr.org/2023/02/what-is-psychological-safety" href="https://hbr.org/2023/02/what-is-psychological-safety" title="HBR on Pyschological Safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">psychological safety (see this great HRB article by Amy Gallo)</a>. If this isn’t happening, chances are you as a leader may have something to do with it.The good news is that EQ is a leadership skill that all of us can strengthen so that you can trust others, generate rapport, and create the safety required for both.Building trust is key in sales and teamwork. As the saying goes, "people buy from people." If you want sales success, establishing rapport with decision makers is crucial. The same goes for your team - trust is an essential foundation.Ways to Build Trust&nbsp;1) Set goals together. By working towards a common objective, you create a sense of unity and cooperation. Supporting each other along the way is vital to meeting those goals. This can take the shape of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Quarterly metrics and what to do / not do differently to improve or make these happen, or discusions on what together can be done to improve processes and how the business is going. 2) Be genuine and authentic. Put yourself in their shoes and ask, "How can I show up in a way that builds trust?" Sometimes, it can be as simple as expressing gratitude, checking in with a phone call, or offering support and assistance. It may look like sharing more vulnerably about what is happening for you, without any blame, shame or justification.3) Be transparent and have values-driven practices.&nbsp;Share what is happening behind the scenes in your life, professionally or personally. Have company values that are shared and agreed upon which can help build trust among employees and what's expected. Being transparent helps everyone know what's expected and can generate trust.&nbsp;If you're interested to build or generate trust in your life sciences related company or venture, we can help. Join us at an <a data-mce-href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlc-CopzIpHdeVB1ICtgA4hNukJ3zIIO4E#/registration" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlc-CopzIpHdeVB1ICtgA4hNukJ3zIIO4E#/registration" title="SIC VS Office Hours RSVP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upcoming office-hours</a> so we can learn more about you, or reach out and <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/romeara/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/romeara/" title="Rachael on LinkedIn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">connect with me on LinkedIn</a> messaging "trust" and I'll follow up directly with next steps.

3 Keys to Build More Trust for High Performing Start-Ups

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<h3>3 Keys to Go from alienating to attracting your next investor</h3>The next time you’re gearing up for your next event or conference, wouldn’t it be amazing if you left having solid interest and follow ups from your ideal investors, lending partners or clients?If that’s something that hasn’t happened yet, we have some ideas for you and it all comes down to applying your own EQ or emotional intelligence to attract, not alienate, your future investors. When you increase your awareness to know how you feel, respond and think, you can start to create better relationships, close more deals, and be even more successful.&nbsp;Here’s 3 tips to try:1. Don’t Pitch. This is counterintuitive and reasoning follows the simple fact that investors are hearing 100’s of pitches a day on top of other meetings, they literally won’t remember all the benefits of your therapeutic or science. The goal is better suited to book a time for a later day pitch. &nbsp;With that said, you only want to say 15-20 words max to accomplish that goal. Those words should only portray the investor opportunity, not get into the science, etc. &nbsp;They may ask questions and your answer should be as short as possible and then open the door to explain further in a meeting next week. Don’t pitch!2. Lower your valuation, then lower it some more and keep going lower. 📉 Investors view folks with high valuations as untrustworthy. Don’t show greed as the main emotion in answering the question: What’s your valuation or cap? Don’t feel bad, almost everyone suffered down rounds and that’s the whole point of the Fed raising interest rates. &nbsp;If you’re too high on valuation as compared to others, you may as well wait for the economy to improve, but recognize that today, the valuations are obscenely low.3. Smile, damn it! 😀 Remember, an investor will stay with you until you exit and you would want to trust that person. Your job is to make friends, you don’t do that by selling your wares. A good way to break the ice with an investor is to show interest in what they do or invest in. What are some of their favorite Portcos and why? This way they’ll help you do deals, introduce you to other relevant folks, etc. &nbsp;If you’re not friends, you’ll be a low priority now and going forward.It's a huge opportunity to meet dozens of relevant investors per day, and we know it will go great using these three simple tips. &nbsp;If you need help or support prepping for your next investor pitch, finding investors, or connecting with them - SIC Venture Studio can help as that’s exactly what we do! We invite you to attend our next virtual office hours, open to all and free as a forum, all you need to do is register. Register on our website <a data-mce-href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlc-CopzIpHdeVB1ICtgA4hNukJ3zIIO4E#/registration" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlc-CopzIpHdeVB1ICtgA4hNukJ3zIIO4E#/registration" title="SIC VS Office Hours" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

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3 Keys to Build More Trust for High Performing Start-Ups

3 Keys to Attract Investors, LPs, or Clients