The Importance of Trust in Leadership

We all have studied great leaders and when asked, we can cite their names and quote them in an instant. However, most certainly, we can also think of someone we would describe as a bad leader. The common trait among the bad leaders that I have worked with was their lack of trustworthiness. These leaders were deemed untrustworthy because they would tell people what they wanted to hear, not the truth. They would articulate one thing to one employee and something else to another employee. They would pass their employee’s work off as their own. And they would exclude team members from important meetings and decisions. Therefore, as a result of these negative behaviors, no longer was I able to grant them the benefit of the doubt and I began to assume everything they did had a self-serving agenda (Cone, 2007). Trustworthy leaders are imperative to the success of any organization. Consistent display of honest communication, loyalty, confidence, integrity, and personal accountability, just to name a few, must be present in a leader for them to be deemed trustworthy. Leaders without these traits will find it difficult, if not impossible, to guide or inspire anyone.

Trust is something that is built over time between people in a relationship. Whenever we choose to trust someone or something, we are giving them something of immeasurable value (Cone, 2007). As I reflect on the behavior of one of my negative leaders, there are many reasons why I think he acted in an untrustworthy way. The most important thing to him was his personal image. He openly talked about how essential it was for him to wear the right clothes, drive the right car, and live in the right neighborhood because of how he would be perceived if he did not. ...

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...rusting relationships with their followers.

References

Cone, J. G. (2007, July 18). Facilitating trust: What team leaders need to know. Retrieved from Interaction Associates: http://www.interactionassociates.com/ideas/facilitating-trust-what-team-leaders-need-know

Covey, S. M. (2006). The speed of trust. New York, NY: Free Press .

Harari, O. (2005). The Powell principles: 24 lessons from Colin Powell, battle-proven leader. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mckinney, M. (2000/2009). Rediscovering leadership: Service versus self-interest. Vision, 44-49. Retrieved from Vision: http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=21836

O'Toole, J., & Bennis, W. (2009). What's needed next: A culture of candor. Harvard Business Review, 87(6), 54-61.

Stockdale, J. B. (n.d.). Leading Thoughts. Retrieved from Leadership Now: http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershipquotes.html