If there’s diminished trust and respect in a leader, then there’s equally diminished performance and productivity. Right?
Trust and respect go hand in glove and it is rare that a leader is trusted but not respected or vice versa.
Trust and respect must be earned, and where the leader must go first.
We all fundamentally agree with the above – correct?
So how does a leader earn and keep the trust and respect of her or his people?
I’ve been a leader in the military, law-enforcement and commerce for over forty years and now coach and mentor senior leaders, and here’s what I have learned:
- We have to be consistent in our shared values, our care and our competence.
- We have to be courageously vulnerable.
That’s it in a nutshell. Do the above diligently and you will earn trust and respect.
Since one of our shared values is most often integrity, it means we must own up to our errors and mistakes immediately.
The glue that holds trust and respect in place is our courage to be vulnerable, because we are not infallible and to appear infallible costs us trust and respect.
What do you think?