One of the common discussions that I’ve come across in leadership discussions in organizations is “How do we build trust?”. I’ve thought about this question from two perspectives – building trust at an individual level and at an organizational level. If one wonders what the difference is, trust needs to start with individual actions in direct interactions and they have to be manifested to a wider audience or stakeholders through organizational processes, practices and systems. Multiple studies have found that trust is a crucial factor for team performance, including in sports. This applies to any type of organization.This post focuses on the individual aspect. Trust can be built more consciously at an individual level with fundamental actions – which I term as “Trust Guidance”. For someone wondering about how to build trust, these are useful starting points. These come from direct observations, and work with leaders and organizations.

1. Be visible.
Don’t get too busy with meetings and spend most time within closed doors.  All stakeholders especially your team members have a high need to see their leaders.  As human beings, visibility is reassuring and builds certainty and confidence (neuroscience research findings support this).

2. Be respectful. 
Being respectful in your direct and virtual interactions, irrespective of organizational levels are huge motivators for individuals. The lower you go, the more charged up and motivated individuals are when they feel leaders found time for them, even to have a short conversation or acknowledgement. People also go through good and bad phases at work or personal lives.  Respecting their space, especially during bad phases go a long way to building commitment and trust.

3. Be aware of self and impact of one’s behaviors and actions on others.
Take time to understand yourself, what drives you, your values, principles, strengths, development areas.  Self awareness is the starting point of any development effort. Next stage is to understand others around you and your impact of actions on people around.  Trust is a two way street and someone needs to extend a hand forward first to get the process of interactions into motion.

4. Be authentic, consistent in behaviors and actions.  
Be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else. Most people are smart enough to see through ‘fake’ personalities. This does not indicate the license to do whatever to be oneself, rather being aligned to  values and principles which are built as part of self awareness.  Practice what you preach.  Admit mistakes with accountability when they happen and share recognition when success is achieved.  It is also helpful to explain your thinking approach as people think differently about a certain topic and may struggle to see the rationale in another person’s approach.

5. Be open to discussions, while being conscious of biases.
Having the openness to discuss aspects that you may not agree with and have a strong view about, may help you see many possibilities and ideas that are otherwise missed.  Sometimes, it helps to be open about the fact that you have a strong view for a certain reason.  It also encourages others to share ideas and thoughts with you without fear. Presence of fear is one of the biggest barriers to trust.  Nobody wants to be the ’emperor with the naked clothes’ but there is a probability of unknowingly becoming one with and it becomes very difficult to call someone out when the perceived power distance is higher.  Being vulnerable, even to some extent is a big factor for others to see the humanness and accessibility.

6. Be fair in approach and communicate, especially tough choices.
People can live with tough choices if they feel it was based on a fair process and they’re not being misled into believing so. Many times, lack of visibility to the process or the way it was communicated or absence of it, result in difficult scenarios and contradictions for everyone involved.

7. Reflect constantly and make necessary changes.
Take out some thinking time with yourself or with your social network, coaches or mentors who can help with your thinking process and getting to more clarity on changes and actions. Everyone has a different scenario to think about and there are no perfect answers that address all scenarios. Observing, reflecting and adjusting your approaches accordingly would help you figure out the best approach for your environment.

Are there any other fundamental starting points in your view?

Best wishes on your leadership journey…

The topic of effective leadership has been thought about and dissected from various perspectives.  I have also spent quite a bit of time reflecting and learning from various angles, while observing, experiencing and working with leaders on practical aspects.I got an opportunity to read the draft of ‘The Leadership Code’ book written by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman few years back.  My recent RBL group partner certification on the topic got me thinking again about related experiences, and its relevance globally.  The Leadership Code work reviews various models and research works and presents a strong, consolidated (‘meta’) view.  Having worked with global leaders, managers and HR over the years, I felt it would be beneficial to share some related thoughts and observations.  From my own experience, leaders undoubtedly have a huge impact (through their direct or indirect actions and behaviors) on how people within an organization feel and engage with customers and external stakeholders, and thereby how the external stakeholders perceive an organization through their interactions, connecting to results.

TLC recommends that the fundamental areas of focus for an effective leader include Personal Proficiency, Strategy, Execution, Talent Management and future Human Capital Development.

In my observation, many leaders seem to spent majority of their time thinking about and working on the execution area.  It is natural, as most individuals are promoted to their leadership positions because they are very strong in execution.  The ‘leadership passages’ (Leadership Pipeline – Charan, Drotter, Noel) or transitions require leaders to reflect and rethink their approaches and practices, as they progress through their journey.  When it comes to leadership development programs, a lot of the focus seems to be on Personal Proficiency.  This is of course an important area but hopefully would not be at the expense of others.  Building a strategy might be less complicated for some leaders but communicating it consistently across and engaging with the organization through to the front lines, making it practical and aligning with the performance management system (which enables right execution) are complex steps.  It is important to note the distinction between execution at an individual level and execution at the organization level (requires different approaches).  Talent management tools exist in many organizations but what makes them valuable is an indepth understanding of the organization’s talent and key drivers through day to day interactions and applications.  When future Human Capital Development is not given serious attention, the succession pipelines dry up or we miss to look at the critical roles in a changing environmental context with the relevant talent, resulting in heavy business impact.

A recent post by GE’s CLO & VP of executive development Raghu Krishamoorthy, mentioned that most of their leaders, including their chairman spent at least 30% of their time on people related topics. Competent HR professionals and systems can play a huge role as enablers and support in building a balanced view and practical approach.

An important question I would leave you with is – to consider if you would need to and how you could find a healthy balance of these areas on your leadership agenda.  The proportions may shift depending on business life cycle and other practical considerations but if as a leader, you miss out on eg. future Human Capital Development area citing business and operational emergencies, the probability of never getting out of them increases and building a sustainable organization for the long run remains a dream.

It helps for every organization (starting with top leaders) to clarify how leaders help balance today’s priorities and future success, and the important role that leaders play to build sustainable organizations for the long run.

RBL Group also finds that while around 60 to 70% of leadership competency models reflect TLC, around 30% would ideally involve differentiators related to the organization’s strategy and brand (which leads to a distinct ‘Leadership Brand’).

Wishing you happiness, success and wisdom…

I recently finished reading the book, “True North” by Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic. It was a great learning experience because it relates directly to real life experiences and shares the wisdom of over 125 leaders with varied experiences. I started consolidating some profound notes and felt they had to be shared. Here we go!

True North is the internal compass that guides you successfully through life. It represents who you are as a human being at your deepest level. It is your orienting point – your fixed point in a spinning world – that helps you stay on track as a leader. Discovering your True North takes a lifetime of commitment and learning.

* The difference with authentic leaders lies in the way they frame their stories. Their life stories provide the context for their lives, and through them they find their passion and inspiration to make an impact in the world.

* ..the worst thing people can do is to manage their careers with a career map…being flexible and venturesome in stepping up to unexpected opportunities..

* Your development as a leader is not a straight line to the top but a journey filled with many ups and downs.

Ann Fudge (Young & Rubicam CEO): “Don’t worry about the challenges. Embrace them. Go through them even if they hurt. Tell yourself, there is something to be learned from this experience. I may not fully understand it now, but I will later. It’s all part of life, and life is a process of learning. Every challenging experience develops your core of inner strength, which gets you through those storms. Nothing worth doing in life is going to be easy………Leadership is leaving something lasting, whether it is how you treat people or how you deal with a problem.”

Jeff Immelt (GE): “Nobody wants to be around somebody going through a low period. In times like that you’ve got to be able to draw from within. Leadership is one of these great journeys into your own soul.”

* The key to learning from failure is to avoid denial and be honest with yourself.

Mike Baker (Arthrocare): What matters is not how often you have been on the canvas, but whether you get up, how you get up, and what you learn from it.

* The role of leaders is not to get other people to follow them but to empower others to lead. They cannot elicit the best performance from their teams if they are in the game primarily for themselves. In the end, their self-centeredness keeps other people from leading.

* When you become a leader, your challenge is to inspire others, develop them, and create change through them…Only when leaders stop focusing on their personal ego needs are they able to develop other leaders.

* Your journey to leadership is likely to take many unexpected turns. Life is full of challenging situations, including ethical dilemmas, midcourse career changes or burnout, seemingly intractable interpersonal challenges with colleagues, marriage and family issues, failures and loneliness. At times, you may feel you are losing your way or have gotten off course..Getting back on track alone is very difficult. That is when you most need your support team.

* Have you defined what success means for you and for your life? Unless you have thought through the answer to that question, you are at risk of letting others define success for you or trying to keep up with their definitions of success.

Ann Moore, CEO of Time, Inc.: “Follow your compass and not your clock.”

Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon: …Achievement was less about getting all A’s and more about trying.”

Anne Mulcahy, ex Chair & CEO, Xerox: “I get things done by identifying with the people in the company and by trusting them. I care most about building a good team to lead the company.”

* Feelings of despair among leaders are quite common, but most do not have the courage to admit it. In times like these, you need the support of your colleagues.

Some of the things leaders do to gain the respect of their colleagues:
* Treating others as equals.
* Being a good listener.
* Learning from people.
* Sharing life stories.

Empowering people to lead:
* Showing up
Showing up at important events or at unexpected times means a great deal to people and enables them to see their leaders as real people.
* Engaging people
The most empowering leaders are those who engage a wide range of people. That means being with them face-to-face….and being open and vulnerable with them.
* Helping teammates
Merck CEO Roy Vagelos: “People love to have involvement of the leader. They feel you want to help them and are part of the solution.”
* Challenging Leaders
Often, the most empowering response is to challenge people’s ideas, to ask why they are doing something a particular way, and to help them sharpen their ideas through dialogue.
*Stretching People
Most people want to be stretched in assignments that enable them to develop. The leader’s key is to sense when people are ready for such challenging experiences. Yet it is also important for your team to know that you will be there to support them if necessary. Just knowing you have support from your leaders if things go wrong is very empowering. It enables you to recognize that you will not be hung out to dry, so you can take on stretch goals and significant challenges without the fear..
* Aligning Around a Mission
Individuals usually have their own passions that drive them. If the leaders can demonstrate how they can fulfull their purpose while achieving the organization’s mission, the alignment can occur.

As you think about your leadership style and power, ask yourself these questions:
* Is your leadership style consistent with your leadership principle and values? Is it even inconsistent?
* How do you adapt your style to the circumstances facing you and to the capabilities of your teammates?
* How do you optimize the use of your power in leading others?

* If you simply adopt an organization’s normative style or try to emulate someone else’s style, your lack of authenticity will show through. Under pressure and stress, leaders tend to revert to their least attractive styles – from being highly directive or passive aggressive to completely withdrawn.

* Authentic leaders understand they need power to get things done, but they learn to use it in subtle ways. They prefer to persuade others to adopt their point of view or to build a consensus rather than forcing subordinates to go along with them. In so doing, they win trust, loyalty and support of their teammates. That in turn leads to better decisions and a higher level of commitment to shared goals.

* In leading, you must always understand the situation in which you are operating, as well as the performance imperative. You should also think carefully about the kind of relationship (dependent, independent, interdependent) you want to have with your teammates and what type of relationship will enable your team or organization to achieve its business imperatives.

You cannot find the fulfillment of leadership by observing leaders from the sidelines…You have no choice but to get in there and get your face marred by dust and sweat and blood. That is what life and leadership are about…The fleeting symbols of external gratification will vanish like the wind. What will remain are the memories.