Great Leaders Don’t Say Just Trust Me

Hi Lolly,

Great post, and you’ve hit the nail right on the head once again. What resonates most for me is “trust is honoring promises.” Making and keeping commitments is the foundation of building trust. Thanks for your insights and leadership…

Great post Lolly.

Trust is part of our personal system of integrity. All of the things that you have listed, and so much more, are part of it, but it must all work together in lock-step.

Trust is the glue that keeps relationships together- personal and organizational.

It is also one of the few things that is almost impossible to regain once it has been broken.

It is entirely possible to gain the trust, of one person at a time, in less than 30 minutes. That outcome can be achieved with about 90% of the people you engage.

If you teach it to several people in your organization, they can become the foundation of an organizational culture of mutual trust and respect.

Thank you Lolly for this wonderful article.

This hyper-connected and emerging social business world requires a leader who can communicate a vision, share a passion, provide support, and trust her team to play their important roles.

The amount of change industries and businesse are going to experience the next 10 years will rquire a culture of trust that can transcend any technology or business process transformation to satisfy & grow clients

It is the true servant-leader that will earn Relationship Capital (RC) from his or her stakeholders and will lead by example because trust is a verb.

In the face of this ever-changing world of business, let the trusted adventures begin.

Very nice one… it all means that trust is the consecuence of a true leadership!!

Lolly, thanks for your usual wisdom!

Trust is as you pointed out the foundation upon you build relationships. And relationships grow based on the trust you maintain with those you work. However, I don’t think trust is a cheap commodity (as you rightly mentioned) that can be easily gained, especially now at this time when budgets are tight and every decision you make as a leader is seen in different lights, even by your closest ones.
Thanks again for this wonderful reflection.

Trust is an earned state; it is not a command!

There are two layers of trust (at least):
1) Transactional Trust – that you do what you say you will, when you will, etc., including many of your points above.
2) Authentic Trust – that you trust the integrity of the individual, what they stand for, their values, etc.

I think too often people focus on the former as evidentiary trust and are afraid to really express the latter.

For me, the vulnerability and willingness to let people WHO you are as a commitment in the world creates a far greater emotional connection than transactional trust alone. Ideally, both together can create life bonds.

Lolly,
Thank you for your insights on trust in leadership. I had to share with you about how your article made an impact on me in what may not have been your expectation as you wrote it. As a retired police sergeant that worked 25 years in the Orange / Los Angeles County area of California the aspects of your article on developing trust within an organization are extremely valuable. However, knowing that you personally came from a background of being homeless and orphaned I immediately had an interest in your article addressing trust.

I have a passion for protecting children in war torn areas of our world and have some opportunities in the works that may allow my wife and me to relocate to Africa for a few years. As a Christian (which is a word that stirs up the “trust” word in many) I read your article this morning inserting God for any place that referred to boss. It was challenging during this time of waiting on direction. Do I really trust God to know what is best for me? Is he trustworthy? God routinely gets blamed for church problems, hypocrisy, and the failings of others (kind of like supervisors).

The result – I do trust him. However, the challenge to put my trust into action and not just talk remains. So thank you for the not intended consequence of your article. Trust is such an important topic in the times we live in – thank you for your insights!

Thanks lolly
Great to read more
God bless u to give more

Trust in you

Winning trust means steering the will of others through heart-links. lolly! Unique is your style and canvassing your words are. Being passionate you have lighted another candle of feels.
Fragrance and smile be yours!

Trust others as you would wish to be trusted…the beginning of every relationship. The base of growth and succes personal as well in business. Your words are sincere and very passionate. Your confidence in personal leadership is great. Love to read your blog.

Dear Lolly,

You always inspire me, in more ways than you will ever know. What a wonderful article on trust.

When i was child, trust was an innate part of my being that enabled me to take that first step and then the next and finally to run. Life was to be explored and shared.

As i grew older, my memories of betrayal and hurtful events began to cloud that innate point of view. And yet without that sense of empowered being how would i continue with another step?

People may not always earn my trust but they are always worthy of it. That is because trust is what empowers us to reach out to others, to encourage, praise, and help them. Trust makes it possible to greet each person with a child like smile. And it helps us get back up when we fall.

I believe that people are innately trusting and worthy of trust. It is the same with hope and love. It’s an essential ingredient for us moving forward – together. As such, trust needs to be honored with the integrity of actions in all the ways you so loving illustrate.

Thank you.

Very nice article,
To gain trust of others people have see evidences of your upright and competent character
The other point many trust the imperfect human being over the Perfect One, God, Allah; hence reversing the formula of the true worship by honoring creation over the true submission to the Creator which leads to the worst consequence ever.

what a wonderful article. I like so much. you inspired me very well. I want to learn something to you.

I have full trust with your truthful article. I shared it with my friends & office mates.

Hi Lolly – Check out some of the work of Professor Bob Hurley at Fordham University on trustworthiness. He has recently launched a Consortium of Trustworthy Organizations. You might be interested.
Best regards – Rose

This was an excellent post. It really made me think how often I hear the phrase “Just trust me.” You’re absolutely right that the phrase should not represent reason enough for employees to follow leadership of their organization. The same goes for relationships in all aspects of our lives!

There is an enormous amount of risk involved in going off of trust–especially when you haven’t been given reasons to follow. People value relationships built on trust and we need to be shown (actions speak louder than words!) solid reasons to put our faith in our leadership. We want to know why. We want to know how.

Thanks, Lolly!
Nikki

Thanks Lolly for this post, trust is always a risk. We put hope in another person and trust they will be faithful to the responsibility. Trust requires risk because nothing is certain when we put something we care about in another person’s hands.

A nice thanks Lolly Appu,(in bengali), For this an imperative article with your brilliant wisdom “proud of this pride Trust”

I truly felicitation you, say to Allah bless your heart and Trust.

Lolly, while trust is necessary, it is communication and openness that makes trust possible. Tell people what you’re going to do, then do it, then report back on what you’ve done and the results. Ask questions, invite input, adopt the recommendations that you can, modify others so they can be adopted, and when necessary, explain why the remainder cannot become part of the road map for change. At every step, report back and ask more questions. Great post.

Lolly i trust you

Thank you Lolly!

Very good post, and very relevant as trust is at the core of leadership. I appreciate your insight and wisdom.

Jay

Lolly – great advice. And I would add that the converse is true. If you are an employee who is in an organization undergoing change, and your leadership is saying “just trust me”, if they are not transparent and are not keeping promises – you would probably do well not to trust them. Instead, trust your gut.

Thank you so much Lolly
To trust to chance

Type your comment here…

Trust me; It’s a call of the heart.

Hi Lolly,
You are the most wonderful and heart warming woman I have listened and read about, God bless you always and peace and harmony and happiness be with you always too.

Hi Lolly, I am really glad to be part of your network and I am in total agreement that trust defines us and directs us towards larger meaning personally and professionally.

Have. Great week ahead

Warm regards
Suman cherukuri

Hi Lolly,
Great post, the foundation of a good workplace is created by organizational truth. As someone who has dealt with individuals in a leadership position, it is amazing how many people demand trust before they develop a relationship with the person. What would happen if either person makes a mistake? Can they overcome the mistake?

This is good. But it leaves out key components about Trust as an assessment. When we choose to trust, we are positively assessing the other’s competence in the particular domain of action. Trust is not global. I might trust my kids to have familial loyalty, or to not lie to me, but I won’t let my 5 year old operate the lawn mower, no matter how earnestly she says she can do it without hurting anything. Part of that assessment is based on a known history of behavior. We need to have a more comprehensive model of trust. For more, please read my blog post. I’d love your feedback Lolly. http://goo.gl/jvAkWq

Lolly I agree with you. Asking for trust without providing evidence of worth is a tempting shortcut, but it holds no value. Instead, strong and viable relationships plus a record of trustworthiness can make tedious discussions, explanations, and requests more palatable.