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In a 2009 international survey, the majority of people said they trust a stranger more than they trust their boss.

Think about the implication of this data point and what it means if you are in a leadership position. It means there is a good chance the people you lead are more likely to trust someone who walked by them on the way to work.

Secondly think about the issue of credibility. Credibility is the foundation of leadership and trustworthiness is the essential component of credibility. This implies that if people cannot trust you, they will not believe you!

Thirdly think about what this means for the organizations. HIGH TRUST organizations outperform low trust organizations by 286% according to a PricewaterhouseCooper study.

The bottom line: Trust rules your personal credibility!

Consider these four (4) insights on becoming a trustworthy leader.

Increase Your Trust, Increase Your Influence

Research has become quite clear that the level of trust that followers are willing to give a leader determines the amount of influence they willingly accept. This research reveals that “high trust” led to greater acceptance of group member interdependence, more cooperation, and enhanced information flow among group members. Even in strong command and control environments trust comes first and following comes second.

There is a direct relationship between trust and risk. When people feel secure, because they trust that you and the organization will protect their welfare, they can focus their energies on meeting higher expectations that challenges the boundaries of a company.

You Have To Ante Up First

Trust is the framework that supports all relationships. Building a structure of trust begins with the leader at the top. You have to ante up first! This can be intimidating because you are putting yourself into other peoples hands and trusting them to care for you. You are taking a risk that the other party will not take advantage of you. You are relying on them to do what is right. There is no guarantee that if you go first that the other party will reciprocate.

You Have To Show That You Can Be Trusted

You have to demonstrate to others that you have both the character and the ability to do your job and to look out for their welfare. Here are four steps to follow:

Behave predictably and consistently  Communicate Clearly

Treat promises seriously  Be forthright and candid

Communicate With A Need-To-Share Mentality

In the book Building The High Trust Organization, the authors discuss the need to replace the “need-to-know” mentality with a “need-to-share” approach because it fosters an environment of trust within the organization. When this happens “distrust” is mitigated and followers feel more attached. Your role as a leader is to make sure that people have the necessary information when they want it and need it. Distrust replaces trust when there is a feeling that information is always late or purposefully being withheld. Here is an important leadership axiom: When there is an information vacuum, people will make up their own answers. These made-up answers will likely become negative and cynical versus truthfulness.

LINKS

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Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

A Journey Toward Significance – Take The SEVEN DAY CHALLENGE

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You Have To Make A Human Connection

Leadership is not about the leader per se. It is about relationship between leaders and those they are attempting to influence. It is about community and doing life together. It is about how you feel and act toward each other. It is about an emotional bond between each other.

The Center for Creative Leadership has found that the critical success factor for the top three jobs in any organization is “Relationships with subordinates.” Said another way, do you like being with each other? It is a know fact that hiring executive positions requires high IQ coupled with high EQ. One without the other is an indicator of failure as a leader not the other way around.

This is serious!!! You can graduate from the top schools, in the top of your class, reason circles around your brightest peers, have relevant situational, functional, and industrial experience and still be more likely to fail than succeed unless you possess the necessary social skills needed.

You Have To Hear What People Are Saying

So often we equate leadership with inspirational speaking. What we seem to miss is that making the human connection requires exceptional listening. The ability to understand the perspective of others is the most glaring difference between successful and unsuccessful leaders.

Sensitivity to others is a truly precious human ability, but not complex. It simply means that you spend time with each other. It means being aware of the attitudes, feelings, and nuances of communication in other people. When leaders are in tune with the emotions of others they create what is called RESONANCE. This means there is an emotional harmony and oneness with each other. Think how an orchestra sounds when the instruments are all out of tune, that is called dissonance. Resonance is what allows for teams to excel at high levels of performance.

Unite People Around A Shared Vision

It is said that one of the most powerful motivators on the planet is a sense of meaning around a shared purpose. Leadership is always a two-way street, never a one way street. When you take the time to listen with sensitivity to the aspirations of others you are able to stand before people and declare; “Here is what I heard you say that you want for yourselves. Here is how your own needs and interests will be served by enlisting in a common purpose.”

If you do not take the time to know people and speak their language, your future goals as a leader are going to be short-lived. The old mantra is still true; “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!”

Make Others Feel Strong and Capable

Powerful things are not accomplished by powerful leaders, they are accomplished by powerful teams who are made to feel powerful by the leader. When asked to describe a leaders that you most admire and look up to, people say it is the leader that makes them feel empowered, listened to, understood, and important like they mattered.

Getting people to feel capable and confident, and to act like leaders themselves, requires making an investment into their personal development. Often people lack a little courage and confidence. However, they blossom when they have a leader who believes in them and gives them support and encouragement. As a leader, learn to ask GREAT QUESTIONS! This will send followers on a pioneering journey in their minds. They are more likely to discover new and exciting methods and inventions!

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

A Journey Toward Significance – Take The SEVEN DAY CHALLENGE

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Focusing on the future is what sets leaders apart!

We have all had a glimpse into the future – you know, the dream you had about an amazing goal you see yourself accomplishing. The difference between followers and leaders is that leaders take their dreams seriously and act upon them. The capacity to imagine and articulate an exciting future filled with possibilities is the defining competency of great leaders. Leaders are custodians of the future! These are the people that are always asking “What’s new?” “What’s next?” “What’s going to happen when this project is completed?” Here are five truths about focusing on the future!

Leaders Look Long Term

In a 30+ year ongoing survey asking the question of what do people want in their leaders that they would willingly follow, the quality of being FORWARD-LOOKING is second only to being honest. Keep in mind this research is global and not confined to the North American context.

You Have To Spend More Time In The Future

Developing a forward-looking mind-set means you have to spend time in the future with your thoughts and skills. It seems too few people appreciate this skill and the time it takes to cultivate. Generally speaking you need to have a 3-5 view that anticipates events and projects of importance. Otherwise, you are left to chase glitz, bling, and sparkle leaving you clueless as to whether this glitz is what we actually need.

Learn to set aside time to think into the future about trends, ethical issues, financial trending, and future needs. Research tells us that top executives only spend about 3% of their time thinking about and getting others onboard about the next ten years of their organization. Michael Hyatt former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing states: “Vision is the lifeblood of any organization. It is what keeps it moving forward. It provides meaning to the day-to-day challenges and setbacks that make up the rumble and tumble of real life.”

Explore Your Past Experience

Aiming for the future always starts with a look back into your history. You enrich your future when you recall the richness of your past. In other words what are the recurring themes of my past that will give clarity to my present and a foundation to build the future upon. Your central theme in life is probably something that just occurred this morning. Rather it is something that has been there for a long time. What is the topic that you keep returning to over and over again.

Imagine the Possibilities

The World Future Society recommends six distinct categories that will assist in understanding business opportunities and trends.

1.Economics

2.Government

3.Environment

4.Society

5.Technology

6.Demographics

A collection of this sort of data will assist you in looking up fro your present gaze to see what is on the horizon. There is one source missing on this list that faith-based non-profits cannot ignore – The Bible! We look into the future with the information of scripture to guide and influence our dreams and hopes.

Be Optimistic

Warren Bennis University of Southern Cal suggests that leaders in today’s and tomorrow’s business climate should have the mantra, “Only Optimists Survive!” Being optimistic does not mean that we fail to face up to reality and hardships. It is not that you deny the diagnosis of a situation, you simply deny the verdict. Optimistic people will work harder against all odds or in spite of the odds.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

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FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

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Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Imagine that you are seated in a conference room meeting with a group of your colleagues. The door opens to the conference room and in walks someone who declares, “HI, I am your new leader!” What questions immediately come to mind?

The #1 question that surfaces in this scenario is, “Who are you?” The bottom line, people want to know your values and beliefs, what has shaped your attitudes, and what experiences have prepared you for this job?

The truth is that values drive commitment! You cannot fully commit to something that isn’t important to you. You cannot fully commitment to something that does not fit with who you are and how you see yourself. You have to know exactly what makes it worth doing in the first place!

Here are four guiding principles to focus upon

Listen To Your Inner Self

As a leader you have to understand what you believe deeply, people will not follow you otherwise. One leader expressed it this way…”understand that everyone has beliefs and values and that in order for people to lead they’ve got to connect with them and be able to express them. This means I have to let people know and understand what my thoughts are so that I can become a good leader. How can others follow me if I’m not willing to listen to my own inner self?…I let others know what I think is important and how hard I’m willing to fight for my values.” The lesson here is – To act with integrity, you must see clearly – what you believe and what you care about.

You Commit To What Fits

It is vitally important to understand the power of personal values clarity – your leadership effectiveness depends upon it. Take notice of the impact of values upon a persons understanding of organizational values versus understanding personal values.

You would expect to see a 6.26 rating for a person who understands what the organizational values are coupled with clarity of personal values. What is most striking however, is 6.12 rating for the person who has high clarity of their own personal value system. This 6.12 versus the 6.26 rating is that there is no statistical difference between a person with high comprehension of organizational value system versus clarity of their own value system.

What does this mean? A person’s clarity of their values system has the most impact upon that person’s performance in the workplace. This is not to say that shared values do not matter. People generally want to be part of something bigger than themselves. What is does say is that people cannot fully commit to anything that does not fit with their own belief system.

Discover What Really Matters

Here is the key question to discover what really matters; “What is my framework for living? You have to decide what matters to you! You have to find your true voice. Your voice leads to what pushed you to your calling in the first place, what is it that I want for my life? This will lead you to the question, What do I really care about in life?” A careful study of the English language reveals there are some 150-200 words that imply or represent values(depending on who you read). None of us can be guided by all of them, so you have to make choices. What are the top 5-7 values that speak strongly to your inner being and that you hold as enduring beliefs?

In leadership you cannot commit everyone to a list that you came up with in private and then expect them to enthusiastically endorse it. People will only commit to a group or organization if they sense a good fit with who they are and what they believe. In this issue leadership is more about listening than telling. You need to build and affirm a community of shared values!

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Truth #2 – Credibility Is The Foundation of Leadership

If leadership begins with a belief in yourself, then leadership continues only if other people believe in you. All of the leadership ideas, books, blogs, audios, seminars, and websites are meaningless unless people believe in the people who are supposed to follow believe in the person who is supposed to lead. The truth is that credibility is the foundation of leadership. This truth is inescapable!

Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. You cannot have one with the other.

Leadership strategies, tactics, skills and practices are empty without an understanding of the fundamental dynamics of this relationship. In every relationship people have expectations of each other. Sometimes these expectations are voiced and others times they are subtle. To understand this dynamic there has been an ongoing research that started in 1980 to the present, attempting discover what followers expect of their leaders. Year after year the results have remained the same with only slight variations of order. Keep in mind the chart below has survived the rotary dial telephone through our modern digital age and yet we still are looking for the same things in a leader.

The respondents from six continents were asked to select seven characteristics. While each characteristic received some votes what is the most striking is that only four have received continually an average of over 60% of the votes. Before anyone is going to willing follow you as a leader they want to know that you are honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent. In other words before people are going to voluntarily heed your advise, take your direction, accept your guidance, trust your judgment, support your ideas, or implement your strategies people expect you to measure up to these four criteria.

Consider the essence of these four characteristics.

• Being Honest – This obviously means telling the truth and having ethical principles and clear standards by which you live your life.
• Being Forward–Looking – This implies that you have a sense of direction and a concern for the future of the organization. Understand that it is not just about the vision of the organization, but does your vision align with the hopes, dreams and aspirations of those who are following.
• Being Inspired – Do you have a genuine and excitement about future possibilities? Your energy signals your personal commitment. Your optimism signals your hope about tomorrow. You have to give people a reason that their past does not hinder their tomorrows.
• Being Competent – This implies that you have a track record and an ability to get things done. People have to believe that you know what you are talking about.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on Stitcher – SUBSCRIBE

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Service– Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!