Tag Trust

Trust is a Mighty Big Word

Steve Keating 2 Comments

Trust 1Trust is the stuff that holds people together. It protects us from all sorts of daily calamities and allows us to move forward without always having to look over our shoulders.  If we can’t trust the people closest to us, family, friends and co-workers then it becomes almost impossible to lead a satisfying life. Trust isn’t just another word, it’s not an idealistic goal which can’t be obtained in “real life.” Trust – or a lack of it – matters and it matters in everything we do and say.

If people are to have healthy relationships, trust must be more than something that is talked about; it must be at the center of everything they do. In business it’s trust that make the “relationship” in a business relationship possible.

Trust is the foundation of all effective leadership; if your people can’t trust you they absolutely will not follow you. They may give the appearance of following you but real trust will take the leader/follower relationship past appearances into true commitment. When your people are committed to you great stuff happens. Morale improves, problems are solved, productivity increases and more leaders are developed.

You can buy yourself a dog but you must earn the wag of its tail. It’s the same with trust, a leader can hire, pay and promote an employee but the trust must still be earned. It must be earned and re-earned every day. When a leader violates the trust of their people the fabric of the organization becomes torn and over time, often very little time, the morale of the organization erodes away.

When a leader does what they say they will, credibility follows.  When credibility is present, integrity can grow. When integrity grows, trust flourishes.

Effective leaders don’t let trust happen, they make trust happen. They proactively demonstrate trust by making certain that their words match their actions. They hold themselves to a higher standard than others; quickly admitting to a mistake and accepting often more than the responsibility due.

Effective leaders know they don’t earn trust by leading, they must earn the trust before they can lead. Effective leaders trust others and show it by giving them the opportunity to succeed.

What have you done in the past 30 days to earn the trust of those you would lead? It’s a question that great leaders ask themselves and ask themselves often. So…..

 

 

Can You be Trusted?

Steve Keating 2 Comments

Trust 1Are you a trustworthy person?

Would those who know you, those who interact with you and do business with you agree with your answer? You might be surprised and even though most of us like surprises this is one surprise we could all do without.

Trust is kind of an interesting thing, we can be perfectly honest, always telling the truth and always doing what we say we will do, and still not be trusted. The fact that we’re not trusted might have nothing to do with us at all, it could just be that the other person doesn’t trust anyone. (There could be many reasons for that but this post isn’t about them, it’s about you.)

Trust is interesting in another way too: it is an incredibly valuable commodity yet it cannot be bought or sold, it can only be earned.

That’s why the wisest people in the world, even the truly trustworthy, never stop working to earn the trust of the people they encounter. They know that even the strongest trust can be fragile and they protect it with both their words and actions.

BOTH their words and actions. That to me is the single most important key to trust building – doing what we say we will do when we say we will do it.

When our words don’t match out actions our credibility is eroded and once it’s eroded enough the trust begins to go. Think of it like a shoreline, our interactions with people are like the constant movement of the waves. Our credibility is just like the shoreline, once it’s eroded it’s really, really hard to restore.

So ask yourself this question and be completely honest with yourself: Do your actions match your words? If not, you may not be as trustworthy as you think. The good news is that when your words and actions DO match your credibility level goes up and if you maintain that long enough you’ll win over even the most hard core doubters you meet.

 

Truth be Told!

Steve Keating 5 Comments

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Are you a leader that appreciates the truth? Are you a leader that not only allows but also encourages your people to tell you the truth?

Your answer to those two questions doesn’t really matter. The only question, and answer, that really matters is this one: Do your people trust you enough to tell you the truth?

The truth be told, in way too many organizations the answer to that last question is a resounding NO!

Here’s a sad fact of leadership that I’ve discovered through the years. Many, many leaders would rather be told what they want to hear rather than be told the actual truth.

These leaders believe a difference of opinion or a challenge to one of their ideas is a challenge to their authority. They treat it as a sign of disrespect and they have been known to hold a grudge for a long time. As a result, they not only limit the potential of their organizations today, they limit it for many tomorrows too.

They “teach” their people that the only truth that matters is the one that the “leader” wants to hear. Leaders drop phrases into conversations like “let’s be careful” and “I think you’re wrong” in order to slow down or even silence the dissenting, truthful voices.

If I want to give a leader the benefit of the doubt I would say they aren’t even aware they are doing that but I’m afraid in many cases it is absolutely intentional. It’s just easier for some leaders to handle the truth as they want it to be rather than the truth as it actually is.

Here’s an interesting check on what kind of leader you really are: when was the last time you made a major (or even a minor) change in a decision based on input from your team? Asked another way; when was the last time you allowed your team, or a member of your team, to overrule you?

If it’s been more than 30 days then either they aren’t telling you the truth or you aren’t listening. Either way, the outcome is the same, the truth has likely died at your hands.

Have you ever heard the saying “great minds think alike?” Well, it’s completely wrong, great minds most certainly do not think alike. If you have a room full of smart people then you also have a room full of different opinions and thoughts. If your people are too timid to share those opinions and thoughts then YOU are failing as a leader.

If one of your goals of leadership is to build more leaders then don’t just allow your people to be truthful with you, encourage it, reward it, and most of all show them that there will be no repercussions.