How Do You Establish Trust?

David Vittoria has a blog post, Trust or Bust. His post is focused on maintaining and enhancing trust. How about establishing trust?

In the Scientific American article, The Neurobiology of Trust, the authors equate the establishment of trust as gift giving. You must give in order to receive. You must start small, and then you can grow. Therefore, in the realm of trust, you must first give some trust to another before you can receive some.

People cannot lead unless others trust them. If they cannot give trust, they cannot get trust. Therefore if they cannot give trust, they cannot lead.

How do you establish or recommend establishing trust?

I asked this question on LinkedIn. Please feel free to add to the discussion in the Linked 2 Leadership or Leaders and Thinkers groups.

What does it mean to be promoted to your level of incompetence?

As you go up in responsibility, you have less and less direct control over the people who are doing the real work; however, it is not a continuum. I see the stages below to where be the key barriers to leadership growth and organizational growth exist. In each case the barrier is trust. To succeed at each level, you must let go of something and accept a dramatically different view of your illusion of control.

A clarification to an answer I provided in a discussion in the LinkedIn group Linked 2 Leadership. Tom Hawes asked the question and for the clarification. Thanks to Tom for an interesting question.

What stages of maturity have you observed in strategy leaders in business?

A discussion in the LinkedIn group Linked 2 Leadership

1. First line leader - the stage where you need others to do things you are responsible for.

2. 3rd line leader - the stage where you need others, with whom you are not personally familiar, to do things you are responsible for.

3. Chief - the stage where you need others, who are completely free to take their own actions or who are qualified to be your boss, to do things you are responsible for.

4. Executive - the stage where you need others, out side of your organization, to change the environment so your organization can do the things you are responsible for.

How can Common-sense be developed?

How can Common-sense be developed? Business and leadership is surely a lot about common-sense; being observant, pro-active and prepared. What are the ways to nurture this (un)common-sense.

A discussion in the LinkedIn group Leadership Think Tank

Hi Jayapria, I would add to Nayana's comments: ... and deep.

The job of a teacher is not to teach but to spark an ongoing willingness to learn. A doctor should not treat the symptoms, but the disease.

In learning science, you study "first principles." These are statements that apply no matter the situation. I think in attempting to teach common sense, you should be trying to get people to understand not "the problem" but rather "the nature of the problem" and not try to find "the solution" but rather "the type of solution." If someone can understand the nature of the problem, they are more likely to be able to apply a similar type solution from their experience. People should not be trained on applying solutions to problems, but rather to apply a type of solution to a type of problem. I am not sure that is common sense, but it is trainable.

That being said, experience helps. Experience helps people identify "types" and matches more quickly.

What is more important?

What is more important: Doing what is right or what is legal?

A discussion in the LinkedIn group Leadership Think Tank

My Answer: This sounds like a typical ethical dilemma. The right answer is only obvious when the sets are (right and legal) or (wrong and illegal). What happens when the sets are (right and illegal) and (wrong and legal)? Sorry, Madhu, but I believe there are actions that are both right and illegal. Here I expose the "Killing Hitler" trump card. I can only provide my opinion as an answer to the question. Clearly there are people who are willing to take actions that are (wrong and legal). I have more respect for people willing to take (right and illegal) actions. I believe doing what is right is more important.

Are you in control?

Are you in control? I mean really in control?

A discussion in the LinkedIn group Linked 2 Leadership

My Answer: Control is an illusion. The only control you have over others is that which they give to you; however, this can be taken away at any time. You can control your conscious thoughts; however, you can't control your subconscious' ability to overwhelm these. You can control your actions; however, you cannot control the consequences of these. What is left? simply being. If that is not enough, then be the best.

Definitions of Leadership

This post will be an ongoing work in progress. Please check back for updates.

The ability to get someone to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason, with a sense of purpose, and without being told. - Gordon Taras

With integrity, authenticity, and accountability, leadership provokes inspiration, empowerment, and collaboration to craft adaptive approaches to achieve shared goals and realize a common vision. - Nancy Caviness

In turbulant times a true leader is one who is able to create trust among the team members, shows genuine compassion for people and causes they work for, ensures stability though consistant values and behavious and finally brings in hope for success by providing direction, guidance and faith! - Shakun Khanna

Leadership is about creating a compelling vision, recognizing that there will be problems to overcome, and creating an environment where others recognize the value in the vision and willingly want to help overcome those problems. - Jim Stokes

From The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester: The process of influencing the behavior of other people toward group goals in a way that fully respects their freedom. - Erik Stephens, CFI

For me, a great leader is someone who:
-stood and committed for something really big, for others not for onseself
-being unstoppable, took (relentlessly) un-known, un-tested actions and inspiring, enrolling others to register
-keeping his/her words and empowering others to achieve their goals (walk the talk)
-easily access to other' world to get what is happening over there and enroll others into his/her world to share and speak the common language to coach and get things back on track. - Chinh Hoang Xuan

Leadership is about (new) RESULTS. There is a "call for leadership" when you want to bring something new into existence. There is a "call for management" when you want to reproduce consistent, repeatable, reliable RESULTS. - Dave Perfetti

A leader leads people; a manager manages tasks and numbers. - Doug Geniesse

2 from Michael King:

The Leader puts forth a vision and creates a space for others to find themselves. The people are fully and authenticly engaged while focusing on achieving the goal. Inside this space people willingly apply themselves along lines of excellence. The gift of the leader is to add the skill sets required to generate self expression and the coaching to be rigourously focused.

In order to lead you must serve.

Ralph Nader: I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. - Kalyse McElveen

University of Exeter, Center for Leadership Studies, Leadership Southwest: Leadership Definitions - Denis Bourne

John Maxwell: Influence....not more, nothing less. - Bob Ferngren

An authentic leader is a visionary, and has the charisma to entice people to voluntarily and enthusiastically follow that vision without being asked. - Lory Mitchell

My favourite - Lao Tzu: A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves." - Stuart Bishop

A leader is a person who has a ability to sense the problem, provide the solution and produce results. - Moin Salah-ud-Din, EDP

A leader is a custodian of all the energies, wisdom and experience that come from his team. His job is to correctly deploy those energies. A leader is a channeliser of energies. It is his job to achieve maximum benefit of aggregation from those energies. - Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur

A leader is someone who inspires others with purpose and creates an environment in which they can excel. - James Donnelly

The practice of getting one or more people to do something or become something difficult that they would not do on their own, without using force. - William Howard

Leadership is the intentional capacity to change space and time. - Kristoffer Nelson, Kris' Website

6 From Grant McKenzie:

Peter F Drucker: Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.

Tom Landry: Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Jesse Jackson: Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.

John Quincy Adams: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

Rosalynn Carter: A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.