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Showing posts from August 4, 2020

"Trust" as the currency of leadership and its role in middle management

Leaders are successful when they inspire change and build support for ambitious goals. But their efforts fall flat if they are not trusted; followers only follow leaders whom they trust. Trust determines whether people believe what you say and whether they are disposed to support, ignore, or contest your leadership. Most importantly, trust is required to get people to set aside fears and concerns in favor of potential organizational benefits (especially when they may not benefit at all).  As the military demonstrates daily, trust enables people to make sacrifices for the greater good. Trust is not the same as likeability. Leaders can be trusted but not necessarily liked. The key factor in being trusted is to be considered constructively dependable.  Trust is built on followers’ perceptions of three qualities of the leader:  being true to your word;  competence, and  acting in accordance with shared values.  The first quality implies that you are honest in what you say, that you do not