Integrity Is The Basis Of Trust

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Book Club Integrity is the basis of trust Warren Bennis claims trust is one of six basic elements of leadership. “Integrity is the basis of trust, which is not so much an ingredient of leadership as it is a product,” he says. “It is the one quality that cannot be acquired, but must be earned. It is given by co-workers and followers, and without it, the leader can’t function.” Trust is the foundation upon which relationships in every setting are built. It is the emotional glue that holds leaders and followers together. The moment trust is gone, everything begins to fall apart. Q: So as a leader, how do you know that you have the trust of the people who follow you? - Reliance- Relying implies one’s free choice to commit oneself to another person. When there’s trust in a relationship, a tremendous reliance is formed between both parties. - sharing, which implies that people give something of themselves (energy, money, time, affection or whatever) to other people and receive something in exchange that promises a mutually desirable outcome. The book says if there is anything that undermines trust, it is the feeling that the people at the top lack integrity, are without a solid sense of ethics. The corporate ethical decline is a direct result of the bottom-line mentality. Norman Lear think that where the greatest impact on the culture might have been, in other times, the church, education, the family, the greatest impact now is business. Everywhere one looks, it seems to me that short-term thinking in business is the greatest impact on our culture. Other leaders agreed with Lear, noting that if companies devoted as much time and attention to product quality as they do to trying to skirt laws and buy officials, their bottom lines would be probably improve. Q: as the leader, how do your values contribute to the common good? In the

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