I often remind students and executives that LEADERSHIP has very little to do with titles and organizational charts, and a lot to do with the ability to INFLUENCE people. The only way to successfully influence people is to RELATE to people.

As a result, my entire leadership model comes down to these three words:

  • Leadership
  • Influence
  • Relate

If I can truly RELATE to a person, regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, and/or educational background, there is a high likelihood I will be able to INFLUENCE and LEAD, regardless of whether the person reports to me or not.

This discussion does raise an interesting question: What is the key requirement for the ability to successfully RELATE, INFLUENCE, and LEAD?

In my experience, it all comes down to TRUST. Without trust, the people you need to accomplish a goal will not be invested in helping you achieve the goal. You may be familiar with the quote that goes something along the lines of “it takes a lot of time to establish trust and a nanosecond to lose it”……and it’s true. We have all experienced it.

While I often hear and read about the topic of trust, it is usually discussed in loose terms with little concrete analysis. The topic of TRUST became more concrete for me when I had the opportunity to participate on a panel hosted by Deloitte totally focused on defining TRUST — how to measure it and what is required to build it within and outside your organization. I appreciated the fact that TRUST is built with the clear understanding that everyone on the team knows that we will always do two things:

  1. We will do the right thing (no exceptions)
  2. We will do the best we can do.

Here’s an excerpt from an excellent, more thorough explanation of TRUST from a Deloitte analysis:

“Organizational trust is the byproduct of a company doing everything it can to get things right for its various stakeholder groups. Trust is built and nurtured when a company demonstrates a high degree of competence and the right intent; meets capability expectations; reliably delivers on promises made; transparently shares information and motives; and displays humanity in caring for the experience and well-being of others.”

In addition, for those of you that want to pursue the topic in more detail, here’s another excerpt from an article that provides a great summary and includes some specific steps outlined by Deloitte:

Leaders seeking to build trust strategically and proactively should consider the following steps:

Establish trust as a strategic imperative with well-defined KPIs. Doing this can help to shift the focus from trust as a risk mitigation strategy to a focus on building trust equity and supporting long-term growth.

Measure trust on an ongoing basis. Such metricscan allow for an objective assessment of progress.

Clarify lines of ownership for trust issues within the C-suite. Doing so effectively provides trust leaders with the opportunity to exert influence when needed to drive performance.

Position trust on the leadership agenda. This helps to bring the issue of trust into strategy and execution discussions.

Here’s wishing everyone a fantastic week!

Blog | Leadership | Self Reflection