Do they trust you?

Asked another way, would you follow you?

What would your team say if I asked your team if they trust you?

The absence of trust is the bottom layer in Patrick Lencioni’s triangle and book,  5 Dysfunctions of a Team. It’s because, without trust, you can’t lean into conflict, commitment, accountability, and it affects results.

So how do you work on trust?

Next week we’re hosting David Horsager, CEO of the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, at our quarterly Advance Leadership Workshop. He’ll be speaking about his new book, Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars that Drive Results.

The premise of David’s work is that your organization’s #1 expense is a lack of trust. He’s right. We’ve seen time and time again in our community that the root cause of the meatiest issues begins with a lack or loss of trust.

Whether it’s a lack of clarity, incompetence, a lack of commitment, tolerating inappropriate conduct/behavior, poor communication, a lack of appreciation, gratitude and compassion, unethical practices, miss-leading information (or lack of information), finger-pointing, inconsistent messaging, anger and rage, etc., a lack of trust IS you’re #1 expense.

In the book, Horsager outlines 8 pillars that drive trust and impact results. Clarity, Compassion, Character, Competency, Commitment, Connection, Contribution, Connection, and Consistency.

Would you follow you?

Would I trust me?

I underlined and circled these rhetorical and convicting questions. It was part of this section relating to the pillar of character. Do I possess the character qualities that are worth following? Who am I really behind the scenes, and is that aligned with how I show up for my team and those I lead?