When I began writing this series of blogs about the six qualities people look for in their leaders, I was looking forward to sharing each of them with you and offering some examples of leaders who demonstrate them.
At the same time, I've been working on the book I'm writing about these qualities, and at the moment I'm on a plane to Florida where two colleagues and I will be teaching this model to a group of high-potential women leaders in the cable industry. So, as you can imagine, I've been reflecting on these attributes quite a bit lately.
And I kept coming to the conclusion that this sixth quality – Trustworthy – is the most important. I've noticed, over the years, that if a leader isn't trustworthy, most people will not give him or her their true allegiance. If people feel a leader has most of the other five qualities, and is working to improve where he or she is lacking, they will 'sign up' for that person's leadership…at least provisionally. But they don't seem to cut leaders any slack when it comes to trustworthiness. It makes sense: if you're going to give someone the power to lead you, it's most critical that you trust him or her, both as a person and as a leader.
When we teach this element, we use Stephen Covey's "Speed of Trust" model; he does a great job of explaining trust as a business driver. He notes that when people trust you in business, they trust both your character and your competence. This is definitely true when people look to see whether a leader is trustworthy. They look first for character: Does the leader have integrity – that is, does he or she tell the truth and keep his or her word? Does the leader have good intentions – that is, does he or she have the best interests of the enterprise at heart? Then they look for competence: Does the leader have the capabilities necessary to do his or her job? Does the leader get results?
When people see that a leader is trustworthy in these ways, and is also far-sighted, passionate, courageous, wise and generous, they'll fully align around that person – they'll commit to him or her as leader. All the elements are important, but trustworthiness is the bottom line.
Throughout this series, I've been talking about people aligning, or not aligning, around a leader. So let me say a little more about what that means. Aligning behind a leader is not the same as doing what he or she tells you to do. Most people in an organization will follow their manager's direction, whether or not they accept him or her as the leader. That's what it means to have a job, and that's what everyone assumes you need to do to get paid and not get fired.
But if they don't truly accept that person as their leader – if the person doesn't demonstrate these attributes that make him or her feel like a worthy leader – that's generally all they'll do; what's required of them, but no more. The leader won't have access to their hearts and minds. And they'll be quick to distance themselves (both metaphorically and physically) if things head south. I saw this a lot during the recession – people rallied around accepted leaders, and defected from poor ones whenever they could.
Leaders whose people do accept and align behind them have a huge advantage: much more of the creativity, aspiration and productivity resident in their workforce is available to them. They are given the power to build great teams, find great solutions, and get great results.
When you're the accepted leader, people are putting their careers into your hands. So I'll pass on to you a wise thing someone once told Spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. May you be a responsible, powerful, and fully endorsed leader.
Thanks to Erika Andersen / Blogs Forbes
http://blogs.forbes.com/erikaandersen/2011/05/23/when-looking-to-leaders-trust-is-our-bottom-line/?partner=alerts
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