I've been thinking about trust lately, and about self-awareness. As various people interview me about Leading So People Will Follow, one question comes up again and again: What does it take for someone to grow as a leader?
My first response is always some version of it requires accurate self-awareness. I go on to say other (and I like to think, equally useful) things about what's needed to grow as a leader, but accurate self-awareness is really the price of entry.
With both individuals and groups, it's difficult-to-impossible to achieve a goal unless you're clear about where you're starting from. Otherwise, it's kind of like deciding you want to go to Philadelphia and imagining that you're starting from New York...but you're actually in Istanbul. Your efforts to get to Philly based on your misunderstanding about your starting point are almost certainly doomed to failure (those pesky oceans, for instance, are going to be a real shock). It would be even worse if you were in Istanbul and thought you were already in Philly.
And that brings us to trustworthiness. My business partner Jeff sent me a link to an article from Smart Blog On Leadership yesterday. The author, Jennifer V. Miller, begins in a nicely provocative way:
Are you a trustworthy leader?
You probably answered with a resounding “Yes!” and perhaps a bit of indignation. The subject of one’s trustworthiness is a tricky one — have you ever met anyone who wholeheartedly agreed that they were untrustworthy?
She goes on say that leaders believe they're trustworthy because they equate trustworthiness with personal integrity, e.g., "I have a moral compass, and I use it in decision-making, therefore I'm trustworthy."
Also, we have such a strong good person/bad person association with trustworthiness that it's really difficult for almost anyone to look at him or herself objectively in this area. It sounds so awful not to be trustworthy, that we tend not even to think about our response - we just say automatically, "Of course I'm trustworthy."
In other words - when it comes to trustworthiness, most leaders think they're already in Philly.
However, as Jennifer rightly points out, when followers look to see whether a leader is trustworthy, they're looking at more than whether the person is trying to do what he or she thinks is right. And they are looking - trustworthiness is one of those core non-negotiable qualities followers need to see in their leaders before they'll completely sign up and commit to that person's leadership. So, to help you assess whether or not you actually are in Philly, here are the things people look for as indicators of whether or not you're a trustworthy leader:
Do you tell the truth as you understand it? Again, I imagine you just said to yourself - of course I do! But let's dig a little deeper. Do you, for instance, tell everyone the same story? Even well-intended leaders sometimes tell different versions of events, depending on who they’re talking to. For instance, in a meeting with your staff, you might tell a sanitized version of why someone got fired, but then behind closed doors with one or two confidantes, you'll tell a very different story. Trust me, it will get out. A big part of telling the truth is telling the same truth to everyone. How are you doing on that measure?
Do you do what you say you will? No one is able to deliver on every promise. But trustworthy leaders most often do the things they commit to doing. Mentally review the last year or so: What's your percentage of delivering on your promises?
Do you keep confidences? Now I'm really going to call on your powers of self-awareness. Have you ever shared a piece of information that nobody specifically told you was confidential, but you knew instinctively should be kept to yourself - either because of its power to hurt someone, or because it revealed more than someone would be comfortable being made public?
Do you speak and act for the greater good? How do your words line up with how you actually behave? For instance, do you hold your folks accountable to standards that you don't uphold yourself -- Insist that they meet deadlines, while giving yourself permission to slip? Make sure they follow expense policies while affording yourself more latitude? This makes it look as though you're more focused on your own benefit than on what's good for the company. It looks - you guessed it - untrustworthy.
Are you capable and do you get results? Can your do your job? Trustworthy leaders have the skills and experience needed to get the expected results, and if they don’t, they acquire them. For example, if you have P&L responsibilities, but you defer every question about finances to your group's or organization's finance people...that's going to make your followers question whether they can trust your fitness for the position. You can be the most high-integrity person on the planet, but if you don't have the chops to do your job, your team won't consider you trustworthy.
I know these are tough questions - but they're critical to ask yourself, if you want to be the kind of leader others will follow. Bottom line: you may already "be in Philly" in your trustworthiness - but if not, wouldn't you rather find out? Then you can start your journey...
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Erika’s new book, Leading So People Will Follow, is now available online and in bookstores everywhere. It has been selected by Amazon as one of the 10 Best Business Books for October, and as one of this month’s Jack Covert Selects.
