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Trust as the essence of leadership
Trust as the essence of leadership
Trust as the essence of leadership
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Recommended: Trust as the essence of leadership
In his article, The Importance of Trust in Leadership, David L. Mineo discusses how trust is essential in a leader and how to gain and build trust. According to Mineo, trust is like glue: it binds the leader and his or her followers. He looks at ways to build trust in employees. Explicitly, he states that “the foundation of a great workplace is… credibility, respect and fairness which form the foundation of trust” (Mineo 2). He then turns his focus to trust and how trust, in effect, helps make employees more effective in the workplace. In one example, an unnamed businesswoman lost the trust of an organization she was working for and, therefore, people were cautious about her decisions and her leadership (Mineo 2-3). As a result, the effectiveness of the company was lessened (Mineo 3). In another …show more content…
Willenberg discusses how leaders must be able to create bonds and relationships with their followers. In order to build relationships in her company, Willenberg’s company implemented a GLUE (Greater Loyalty Utilizing Empowerment) Committee to help people make those in her business happy and become more connected (Rolle 1). She states that after 30 years of studying in the field of leadership, she believes “effective leadership is the ability to build relationships with all customers” (Willenberg 1). Willenberg states five rules that make a leader successful: 1) a leader must listen to their followers, 2) a leader must think before they speak, 3) a leader must not be self-absorbed, 4) a leader must allow open-mindedness in the workplace, and 5) a leader must be humorous and “make work fun” (2-3). Willenberg concludes that successful leaders must first understand the nature of humans and be able to build lasting bonds with their followers by not ignoring them (3). As she says, from personal experience, when she “look[s] back at some of these relationships and the memories are positive”
There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself. Great followership is a reflection of great leadership. In this, the follower is just as important as the leader in the relationship. Many great leaders have asserted that a leader with even a modicum of understanding of what drives their subordinates can take their organization to previously undreamt-of heights in creativity and productivity. Collins does not disabuse us of this notion, he does however add that the follower is indispensable agent in this interplay between leader and follower.
Contemporary organizations expect advantageous styles of leadership to lead and facilitate operations as we move forward into the 21st century. This need requires leaders and organizations to instill a style of leadership advantageous to supporting and leading a culture towards organizational effectiveness and connecting to support and uphold organizational strategies. Thus, the success of an organization usually contains successful leaders who understand and support the needs of the employees. The characteristics of successful leaders include selflessness, mentoring, empowerment, influence, support and empathy among other positive traits (Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo & Sutton, 2011; Karakitapoglu-Aygun & Gumusluoglu, 2013; Sabir, Sohail & Khan, 2011; Shankers & Sayeed, 2012).
In this book, the authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie examine the question “What are the keys to being an effective leader?” To answer this question they had a team that reviewed data collected from Gallup polls. The data came from interviews from 20,000 senior leaders, over a million teams and more than fifty years of Gallup Polls of the most admired leaders in the world. The authors then had the team do a study of more than 10,000 followers to find out why they follow the influential leaders in their life.
They have profound convictions for for their leadership; Their behavior always reflect their core values and they view themselves as individuals that “lead with their hearts as well as their heads while also building enduring organizations” (George 2003). Leaders are encouraged to maintain the perception of authenticity but making sure that their words are consistent and reflect their action or intentions. They should not be so pompous and arrogant that they cannot relate to or find mutual and common ground with their staff. (Goffee & Jones 2005)
Lastly, the key to successful leadership is getting all of one’s followers on their side. In order to achieve this, leaders must gain all their followers trust. Bennis outlines four key elements to gain this trust. Primarily, constancy must be enforced. Leaders must stay the course. Second, congruity is essential. This is so the leaders can “walk the talk.” Third, reliability is needed so that leaders are present when it matters most. Lastly, leaders honor their commitments through integrity. All of these important, aspects gain the trust of their followers by their side.
It is my belief that transformational leadership improves organizational effectiveness, and, therefore, should be used in every organization. As my goal is to move up the management chart, I trust this theory and concept will enable me to be a more effective leader. The transformational leadership style is one of the widely used approaches today. Organizations believe that transformational leaders influence performance. In order for me to influence my follower’s to increase team performance, I must build that trust. Meaning, I must become that effective transformational leader in which my followers have trust in me. These learnings will be applied in my workplace. After the readings, I now understand how crucial trust is in transformational leadership. In the workplace, my focus will be on building cognitive trust among team members so that they will put more efforts into performing the given task. Having trust in the team leader and trust amongst team members has a positive effect on team performance. If I want the vision to be fulfilled, it’s imperative that I encourage my employees to work together. As the article mentions, trust is an important factor that mediates the effect of the transformational leadership on group outcomes. Applying the learnings of this article will enhance my leadership skills as well as improving organizational
With that being said, leaders look for followers who are extraverted, enthusiastic, willing to participate and contribute to the team in a positive manner whereas, followers are looking for pleasant, trusting, cooperative and agreeable leaders as it allows for a higher commitment to the relationships as well as to the organization (Northouse, 2013). Through this analysis, it has come to my attention that in order to become an effective leader it is imperative to have excellent effective communication skills. Being aware of communication skills is critical. Communicating in such a manner as Coach Knight often did is and can be detrimental to one’s career, as evidenced by his unfortunate firing. One stand out observation learned is the connections one can develop through trusting relationships entered into with employees, continually evaluating the feelings and confidence levels will allow me to create exceptional environments where there is an obvious display of commitment to not only the specific area where I lead but to the organization as a whole.
From corporations to nonprofits and higher education institutions, leaders – the cornerstone and foundation of organizations – are ultimately responsible for its success. Nonetheless, leadership, often described as complex, can mean different things to different people. Given no standard approach to leadership exists, scholars focus on the process of leadership as opposed to the definition (Northouse, 2013). As a process, leadership is not simply possessing formal authority, traits, or attributes. Quite the reverse, leadership is primarily a relationship – engagement and interactive exchange – between leaders and followers (Morrill, 2007; Northouse, 2013). Effective leadership, commonly regarded as both a learned skill and innate ability, is
To become a truly effective leader, one must encapsulate the various behaviors related to the aforementioned course learnings in his/her persona and demonstrate such behaviors daily. This course has allowed me to identify four behaviors that all leaders must portray to be effective. The first of which is that a leader must be inspirational. To do so, a leader must set the appropriate vision and direction for the organization and provide a path to achieving defined goals. Additionally, a leader must induce the proper levels of motivation so that each employee has sufficient incentive to work towards the organization’s goals. As discussed in the class, motivation can be accomplished by factors such as rewarding hard work and providing the correct opportunities to employees. While these are motivating in that employees desire to be fairly compensated and to be doing work they deem valuable, inspiration comes more from organizational culture. A leader will be inspirational by setting a tone that appreciates each employee’s contribution, no matter how small in scale it is. Further, employees are inspired when they work collaboratively in a group setting and can capitalize on individual strengths to drive organizational goals.
The emphasis on leaders being not just executives and managers, and that not all executives and managers are leaders, is extremely vital. Anyone can strive to be a leader in whatever organization in which they are involved. Bennis and Nanus claim that leadership is about character, setting the example for how team members treat one other (and in a corporate setting, their clients as well), being truthful and sustaining organizational trust, and encouraging themselves and others to learn. On one hand, it can be easy to see how many people in leadership positions do no match up to these standards of leadership. On the other, it seems a bit like common sense to be truthful to others and to effectively communicate with people who work together everyday. Leaders is an effective tool for summarizing and inspiring leadership not in that it teaches tough strategies and manipulations, but that when looking at an overview of its content, Bennis and Nanus are essentially teaching human relations and human decency. All in all, this book highlights strategies for us all to be better in our lives and our everyday
It is undeniable, in an honest examination of the world, to deny that leadership will determine the success, or lack of success in almost every endeavor. This holds true for small group projects through the largest possible business venture, and beyond. John Maxwell discusses principles followed by great leaders and utilized by others to increase their own talents. His book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, is a valuable resource to those who seek to improve individual leadership abilities.
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.
Finally, relationships in the work place and in our personal lives are one of the most important aspects that define us as individuals. Everyone knows how much more can be accomplished in a situation where there is a good working relationship verses the opposite. In a leadership role it is important to have a good understanding of each individual team member. This understanding can include what motivates, what is important, and how the leader can tap into these resources. As each of us progress in our leadership roles, it is important to remember, it’s not all about me. I believe once we accept any type of leadership role, we accept the responsibility to serve others. If we consider it only for personal gain, we will probably not be remembered as a good leader.
Leaders are responsible for guiding employees to complete job duties and ultimately reach organizational goals. This task can be challenging and involves far more than simply instructing employees on what to do. The act of leading well requires a leader to build positive relationships and through this connection inspire and empower their followers. An organization’s greatest resource is its people however, to fully harness the power of this resource a leader needs to engage and continually motivate employees. Encouraging others and developing them is an essential part of being an effective leader.
Trust is built by trusting team members and communicate about any issues that arises in the team. You would make commitment and believe in your ability to get the job done.