I’m sure if I asked the question people would tell me that the ability to establish, build and maintain trust while driving for and delivering business results has always been a key ingredient to leadership effectiveness. And in my view it’s these leaders who stand apart from the crowd.

Yet, in many leadership programmes we run, we seem to talk around trust, preferring to concentrate on developing strategic competencies, building strategic networks and partnerships and enhancing personal impact and presence.

Don’t get me wrong, these capabilities and characteristics are all critically important and absolutely essential I’m sure. But all of these will be compromised if as leaders we are not trusted by those around us, our stakeholders or our clients.

I have seen and worked with many brilliant people who have achieved significant success in their careers. But, only a handful could I truly say are leaders that I trusted. And many of the best leaders are not all CEO’s or C Suite Executives. In fact, some of the most effective leaders can be found operating deep within businesses at various levels of the organisation, not just at the Executive table as we tend to focus on.

Stephen M. R. Covey’s book the “Speed of Trust” is an outstanding read. It brings out clearly how trust is a key leadership capability. And it’s captured beautifully in a quote from the book where Covey says “Leadership is about getting results in a way that inspires trust.” How true. I’m sure we’ve all experienced organisations and leaders who care little about how results are actually achieved or the impact on employees.

Today's work environments are complex and highly stressful for both leaders and employees. 

• Organisational demands on employees to do more with less, maintain quality and meet often impossible deadlines are a constant.
• Leaders are expected to drive for results, exceed customer expectations and reduce organisational risk and breaches.
• Everyone has lives outside of work and the demands and stresses in those environments cannot be left at the door when we come to work.
• The incidence of workplace conflict and mental wellbeing has never been more challenging within organisations across all industry sectors, with the factors referred to above, being some of the major contributors to this.

These pressures challenge the effectiveness of leaders at every level of the organisation...every day. Where trust is low, some organisations will resort to intense micro management, punishing governance systems and structures and over engineered processes to control how results are achieved. Leaders within these businesses may often avoid the signs of stress in the workplace that invariably lead to conflict. Unknowingly they allow hostile behaviours to creep in and go  on unnoticed, resulting in angry confrontations, contrition and creating an environment where employees become cold and bitter, leading to tense interactions and often reverting to industrial measures to further their cause.

In his book, Covey talks about the economics of trust. He says that where trust is low, speed to do business will most likely be slow and costs will naturally be higher. Flipped around, where leaders invest in and trust their people, speed and quality of service is better and achieved at a lower cost…surprise, surprise!

So in summing up, the most effective leaders are those who not only have the character and capability to be successful in their chosen paths, but most importantly develop trust with their people in how they drive for and achieve results. In his book, Covey outlines a combination of 13 behaviours that if focussed on and developed by leaders can build trust. These include talking straight, respecting people, being transparent, righting wrongs, listening...through to delivering results, getting better personally, clarifying expectations and practising accountability.

Covey's book is a refreshing read. One that reinforces that trust can be developed and reminds me that it should be integrated into and a focus of all of our leadership programs at every level.