Your Leadership Trust Quotient:
The Heart of the Matter

At the heart of the matter, your leadership trust quotient is directly proportional to your honesty, integrity, and humility.

I see this all the time in my work as a coach. If you want to raise your leadership trust quotient, take a hard look at your honesty and integrity.

Leaders who are being true in what they say and true in what they do are trustworthy. You see, when you are beyond reproach, people know your actions and decisions are not selfishly motivated; they don’t need to be suspected. If you live out truth and integrity with transparency, holding yourself accountable to everyone, your people offer you their trust.

Integrity also means giving of yourself for the benefit of your people. Trustworthy leaders place a higher priority on the welfare of those they lead. People know they are in good hands, with a noble cause underlying their efforts. Often that requires courage, and this is another trustworthy trait.

The Heart of the Matter: Humility

Humility has nothing to do with being meek, weak, or indecisive. It is not mere courtesy or an especially kind and friendly demeanor. Nor does it necessarily mean shunning publicity or the spotlight.

Leaders with humility give credit for successes, rather than take it. They bear the heat for the disappointments, rather than blame their staff. They praise their people for their accomplishments, and allow them their chance in the spotlight. Simplified, they treat their people as good as, or better than, self.

If you seek feedback and ideas from your staff, and allow them to partner with you rather than be ruled by you, you will earn their trust. Your people will feel they contribute, and have the freedom to use their skills. This practice builds teamwork and unity; two themes people yearn for, yet statistically, rarely experience.

Leaders who admit they can always learn from others show their openness to value and trust their people. This generates trust in return. I agree with Rich Eich who points out in the American Management Association article, 5 Ways A Leader can Build A Culture Of Trust, that a leader who admits their mistakes displays humility. Employees are further encouraged to trust you if you also show how you’re learning from your mistakes. Your genuineness is displayed, and people sense a greater connection with you.

The primary leadership mindset needed to establish and build trust is a genuine focus on people through four basic elements: offer assistance, acknowledge and appreciate, live life with honesty and integrity, and lead with humility. It’s been my observation that the level of trust you earn from your people is a measure of the connection they feel they have with you. Make your people top priority: you’ll build higher levels of trust in your organization and find more ways to succeed, over and over. Best of all, implementing them costs you very little, yet gains you very much. It’s the best ROI you’ll ever have!

What do you think? How has integrity and humility affected your leadership trust quotient? I’d love to hear from you. You can call me at 704-827-4474; let’s talk. And as always, I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.