Page 209 - The extraordinary leader

186 • The Extraordinary Leader

2. An open, friendly style. Trust is earned much easier when leaders
are open and friendly rather than abrupt and dismissive. Those
who are viewed as easy to get along with are also viewed as
trustworthy. Leaders who work hard to win people over to their
position rather than demanding that people accept their position
also build trust.
3. Noncompetitive. As people go through school and finish college, they
often feel they are in constant competition with others. Grading on
the curve makes students view others as competitors who could hurt
their grade. As new employees begin work, entry-level jobs provide the
same context. Consulting firms hire hundreds of MBAs and inform
them that half will be weeded out in one or two years. Only 1 in 10
will make it to partner.
A key transition for leaders is moving from viewing others as
competitors to viewing others as team members. Behaviors that kill
trust include taking personal credit for the accomplishments of others
or being threatened by the success of other members of the work
group. Leaders show support for team members by backing them up
when they make an honest mistake and accepting blame for failures
of the group rather than criticizing the performance of individual
team members.
4. Others have confidence in the leader’s abilities and knowledge.
Expertise builds trust. Having confidence in a leader’s ability to
achieve difficult goals is a key aspect of trust. In addition to being
friendly and considerate, being reliable and right is a critical aspect of
building trust with others.
5. Careful listening. It is interesting to note that there is a strong
relationship between listening and trust. Some people might believe
that you talk other people into trust. This finding suggests that
listening is a more powerful way to build trust.
6. Candor. A key ingredient of trust is honesty. Being frank and
honest in dealing with other people is critical to building trusting
relationships. Telling people what they want to hear in an attempt
to be nice or protect them from the truth only erodes trust in
relationships. Sometimes, information is confidential and cannot
be shared with others. Leaders with candor can be straightforward
about the fact that they cannot share specific information.