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Standing Tall: A Manager’s Guide to Becoming a Leader

10/26/2012

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Chapter 3: Trust 

As much as Scarlett dreaded facing the conversations with her employees, she set up lunches with both of them in order to begin the process she and Jack discussed. It was going to be hard to create a different dynamic than what they had now, but she had to give this a real try. 

On the day of the lunch with Melissa, her assistant, they walked over to the bistro across the street and got a table.  After some small talk about work Scarlett opened up about the feedback on her 360 and what she was learning through working with Jack.  She said she realized she had to work more on her relationships, especially the ones she had with her and Steve. She apologized if she had not been the best boss and told her she wanted to get better. She asked Melissa what she could do to better support her in her job and make it a better experience. Although Melissa’s performance gaps lingered in Scarlett’s mind, she bit her tongue so as not to address them yet. 

Melissa hesitated but then said. “I like working here, but sometimes I do feel a bit on edge. I am not always sure how you are going to react to things or if you are going to come to me with issues on something I had done days before. I sometimes wish you would tell me things right away if they are not up to the level you need. That way I can fix it then and there.” 
“Melissa, thank you for being straight with me. I am sorry if I can get curt at you.  I get stressed and sometimes take it out on you, especially when there are client deadlines. I would like to be more aware of how my reactions affect those around me and try to be more proactive in bringing things up as they come.” 

They continued their conversation throughout lunch during which Scarlett learned more about Melissa’s interests in rollerblading, hockey and her son. For her part, Scarlett talked about her childhood and why she decided to stay in Maryland following graduate school in order to stay close to her family. Scarlett realized it felt good to be opening the lines of communication with her staff to lay a foundation for trust. She was also learning some new things about herself.

When they walked back to the office Melissa said, “Thank you. I appreciate this conversation as I know it must not have been easy for you.” 
“Thanks, Melissa. I appreciate your honesty and will look for more ways to be supportive of you.”

The next day Scarlett did the same thing with Steve, her associate, opening up to him about her desire to work better with her team. He told her that he wished she would mentor him a bit more as she was a bit distant and did not seem to have time when he wanted to learn more.
Scarlett wasn’t too surprised by his input as she knew she wasn’t that good at developing her staff. “I am committed to helping you more. I know it is something that will help our team now and help us grow in the long run.”

As they chatted more he revealed that he really liked estate planning, their line of business, and was thinking of specializing in it. 

“Well I’m glad to hear it because I do have some new projects coming up that I think you can take a larger role in. I could really use the help, as these are some new clients. Would you like that?”
“Very much so. I look forward to learning more of the intricacies of this field as well as taking on more responsibility by learning more from you.” He said cautiously.
“There are some meetings I can take you to as well as some more review I can do of your work. Will that be helpful?”
“Yes and just some feedback on the current work I am doing would be great as well.”


Scarlett felt good that she was beginning to get to know her employees and their needs. She was realizing that making even a little investment in her employees was opening up a different perspective for all of them. She could see that if she spent more time with them and was open in her communications she could build a lot more trust. Maybe Jack was right, she thought.

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The Leadership Challenge” Review 4

12/7/2011

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As I continue to review “The Leadership Challenge” I will now discuss the fourth practice of exemplary leaders as outlined by the authors Kouzes and Posner: Enable Others to Act. As a leader a really important practice is developing your people and enabling them to learn under you, take chances, and eventually become a leader as well. 

Building trust as a leader is a key component of enabling others to act. It shows that you can let go of control, allow your employees to take some risks and develop their own talents, and thrive in your organization. As a leader you can show this trust by enabling increased collaboration among your team, encourage communication and team building, and enhance interactions by supporting in person meetings/events, etc. 

Leaders show that they can be trusted by leading by example by opening up first, and showing they support others. At the end of the day leaders have more power by giving power up to others.

The second way that leaders can enable others to act is to strengthen others by increasing their self-confidence through an enhancement of competence. Leaders can also strengthen others by giving them choices on how to do things, holding them accountable, and allowing them to determine for themselves the right course of action. Exemplary leaders take time to teach and coach their employees to eventually be leaders as well.

An old boss of mine used to tell me that I should always be developing the next person to take over my job. That stuck with me because it reminded me to invest in my team and build them up while it also encouraged me to build my skills so that I could move up to the next level as well.

What are you doing these days to enable others to act? Are you coaching and teaching your employees? Are you trusting them to take steps and build their skills? Are you giving them the freedom to fail and learn from their mistakes? If not what can you starting doing to enable others to act?
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How to Build Trust With Others -Transparency

2/23/2011

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Continuing on in the review of Stephen Covey’s book “The Speed of Trust” it really struck me that one of the key points about building trust with others is Transparency. This ties to the one of the 4 Core Principles mentioned last week of Intent. Being transparent is a all about sharing your intent about what you are trying to do, why you are doing it, and what the intended outcomes are. 

The more clear you are about what you stand for and how you are going about achieving your vision and goals the more people can stand behind you. They will then be able to see that you do what you say you are going to do.

When you are not transparent about your needs or who you are there can be mixed messages, people don’t necessarily know what it is that you want or expect from them, and then they can’t live up to your expectations as they were never set. 

Being transparent is really about being authentic and genuine in who you are and sharing that with those around you. I believe this is a key component in building trust for it allows people to see the real you and truly interact with someone who is comfortable in their own skin. People will then respect you more because they know what you stand for and why. 

Are you being authentic in your interactions? Where, if at all, are you withholding information? How can you be acting in a way that “What you see is what you get?”
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The Speed of Trust” Continued

2/16/2011

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Stephen M. R. Covey continues his book by talking about 5 waves of trust with the first wave being Self-Trust. I really love this because it talks about the four core principles of integrity, intent, capabilities and results within self-trust so again it ties back to the idea of character and competence being the cornerstones of trust.

So what are these four core principles?

-Integrity - living in alignment with your core values
-Intent - having the intention of a win-win situation
-Capabilities - having the skills to get results
-Results - achieving the outcome we have promised

What really struck me about this first wave is that if you don’t have trust in yourself - in tying your actions and intentions to your values or in your own abilities to create results then it impacts every other relationship. If you can’t keep promises to yourself or act on your values (not just have good intentions but actually follow through on them), then you are undermining yourself and your abilities to make an impact on others. If you don’t trust yourself how can others trust in you?

As a leader you must be in alignment with who you are and show that you are capable of creating lasting results, otherwise people won’t follow you or trust you. 

In which of the four areas of self-trust (if any) do you need to work? Are you strong in integrity, capabilities and results, but your intent is not always win-win? Are you aligned in integrity, intent and capabilities, but you are not producing results? Without all four you can not make the impact that you need to make on your organization or client base. What can you do to increase your self-trust?
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“The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey

2/9/2011

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Trust. A word that underlies so much that happens in business, in organizations, in countries, and in life, and yet not that many people think about. It is a fundamental building block and according to Stephen M.R. Covey (the son of Stephen Covey) is “the key leadership competency of the new global economy.”

In a time where there were so many ethical lapses in judgment in the business world (with the financial crises) and moral lapses in judgment by politicians and now with the revolution in Egypt that has toppled Hosni Mubarak people are trusting themselves more than their leaders. They are looking to their leaders for character and integrity, but also the ability to get things done, and not necessarily seeing it. That is Stephen Covey’s definition of trust - a combination of character and competence. 

It was thought provoking to me to realize that trust is not just character, but really the ability to also get things done. It is one thing to have the intent to want to the do the right thing, but if you cannot actually get it done then you lose people’s trust. In Egypt’s case you could argue that Mubarak perhaps didn’t have either - character or competence - in the view of his people and that is why he got toppled. In the view of the US the people are pushing their leaders to get things done and truly help the economy and voting and voting again until they get the right people in place to get the job done. 

What are you doing in your organization? As a leader are you showing character and competence? If not, is it impacting your employees, your business, and/or your organization? If you need to increase trust would you work on character or competence?
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Building Trust

2/2/2011

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Building trust is a key skill set for any good leader. It is what leads to strong relationships. It is what allows for creativity and innovation. It inspires others to be better than what they already are. 

Trust in an organization is a key factor for growth, innovation, and creativity because when people in an organization trust their leaders they feel like they can take risks and know that their leaders will have their back. They feel like they can make mistakes and still have the encouragement of their leaders to try better next time. And they feel like they want to do better for their leaders because they know that they are going to be held accountable and rewarded for good work.

So what does it take for a leader to build trust within their organization?

Invest in building relationships - Relationships are the key to any thriving business whether it is building relationships with clients or building a team around you. It takes truly listening to what makes other people tick, what motivates them, and what inspires them. By truly listening, learning about and beginning to understand other people a leader can build trust with the people the people around them.

Hold Yourself and Others Accountable - Holding yourself accountable to what you say you are going to do and following through on your promises are two key components to building trust with others. It shows your character and integrity and that you value other people’s time and investment with you at your company. It shows them that they can depend on your word and that you are holding them to their word. Accountability is an integral part of building trust.

Look out for your people’s best interest - Encouraging their strengths, having their backs when outside influences could present some risks, knowing how to balance their weaknesses, and truly helping them rise to their potential builds trust. By truly looking out for others and giving to them as part of your team you will receive their dedication and loyalty in ways that you would not otherwise be able to do. 

Create Transparency - Being open and honest with your employees and organization about where you are headed, what is currently going on, and any issues that are arising allows the employees to feel part of the process and want to give more to the organization. It is a way for people to feel included, in the know, and understand where the leader is coming from and going. 

Are you implementing these strategies to build trust in your organization? Which ones could you begin to implement if you are not already?
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    Monica Thakrar

    Monica Thakrar has over 18 years experience in business focused mainly on strategy, change management, leadership development, training and coaching resulting in successful implementations of large scale transformation programs.  

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1435 Chapin St NW, #206, Washington DC 20009 703.282.3295
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MTI Inc. is a woman-owned small business founded in 2008 | Monica Thakrar, CEO | DUNS #004654409 | NAICS Codes 541611, 541612, 611430 | Classification WOSB 

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