Instinctively, we trust some people and don’t trust others. We put our faith in unscrupulous folks sometimes and don’t immediately recognize the truly trustworthy ones. So we begin to doubt our instincts.
Trust is a difficult concept to parse. The part of the brain where we analyze trust must be near the Amygdala where flight and fight thrive, far from the pre-frontal cortex where words live. Many millions have been made writing business books around figuring this out. There must be gold in there somewhere….
Trustworthy leaders do not necessarily equal charismatic leaders. We said previously that they have vision and they are willing to take risk and make decisions. Pay close attention to where they say they want to go. Listen to what they say they care about. We trust leaders who we believe care about us. If you are the leader, be clear about your values with your team.
Trustworthy leaders keep commitments. They do what they say they were going to do. They demonstrate this every day in small ways, not just the big ones. You can count on the alignment between their words and their deeds. No excuses.
Trustworthy leaders are sincere. They don’t say one thing to you and something different to the next person. They don’t baffle you with ambiguity.
Trustworthy leaders are competent for the tasks ahead. We assume this or they wouldn’t get where they are. But, where they are now is not where they need to be in 3 years. So, they are always trying to grow themselves and their teams to reach that vision.
What area do you need to focus on this week to be a better leader?
photo by Nora Paller