Why Trust Is Important In Leadership

372 Words2 Pages
Why trust is important in leadership If one doesn’t trust his/her leader to lead, why would one follow this leader? This is common sense. There are all kinds of books, journals, and articles written by all kinds of experts about what makes a good leader. Most of these experts, however, cannot agree as to what will make a good leader. (Keller & Kotler, 2006) There are as many leadership styles as there are books, etc. Trust is the one characteristic that appears in every book listed in Keller’s book (Keller & Kotler, 2006). Inspiring trust is essential to successful leadership. People will not follow someone as their leader unless they trust him/her; they won’t follow anyone unless they believe that person knows and communicates what he/she is doing. According to author Stephen M. R. Covey in his book “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything,” when trust goes down productivity also goes down and costs go up. Conversely, as trust goes up productivity increases and costs decrease. This is the economics of trust in the organization. And nothing impacts your ability to motivate employees more than the level of trust they have in you as a leader. Trusted leaders, first and foremost, are those whose actions match their words. In the same way children emulate what parents do more than what they say, employees look to see if the actions of their leaders align with their words. Keeping words and actions in lock step builds trust and credibility like nothing else. (Covey, 2006) The textbook has discussed many leadership styles with interesting descriptions: The Benevolent Dictator, Rah-Rah Type, Open Book Manager, Theory X, Theory Y, Autocrat, and Team Builder, for example. They all offer certain positives and negatives regarding successful leadership. However, it doesn’t matter what style of leadership you choose, as long as your employees are
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