By High-Trust Leadership is all about change. Personal change and organizational change.
Change for the better because the status quo isn’t good enough or it is no longer relevant because conditions have changed.
High-Trust Leaders are followed despite the fear, anxiety, sacrifice, and pain of change because they are (drum roll, please) trusted.
A huge enabler to earning and maintaining trust amid the storms of change is CONNECTION.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” — Theodore Roosevelt
People don’t care what you are saying until they know how much you care.
People don’t care what you are selling until….
People don’t care what ideas you have until…
People don’t care what advice you have until…
People don’t care what feedback you have until…
How can you show how much you care?
- Learn their names, their stories, their interests, their children.
- Look them in the eye when you speak.
- Slow down and give them your full attention.
- Let them talk.
- Reply to their e-mails; return their calls.
- Ask for their opinion and truly listen to their answer.
- Show respect.
- Write their spouse a thank-you note for his or her support and sacrifice (extra credit if it is handwritten).
- Give recognition for outstanding performance, effort, sacrifice.
- Extend trust — delegate authority and responsibility.
- Make a personal sacrifice of your time and energy on their behalf.
The dentist who calls his patients at home after every procedure to ask how they are feeling. The CEO who flips burgers at the company picnic and speaks to each employee and family who come through the line. The Army platoon leader who never eats a meal until the rest of the platoon is fed. The VP who stops by five cubicles each day just to chat with members of her team for 10 minutes each. She’s not there to preach or give direction. She asks open-ended questions and listens to the answers. You get the idea.
This isn’t rocket science. Here are two secrets:
- The impact of showing you care is far greater than the time and effort expended because it is so rare and often unexpected.
- Warning: don’t try this if you don’t mean it. The penalty for fraud counts double.
Be a High-Trust Leader: show how much you care.
