Is leadership safe in your hands?

Is leadership trusted in your hands? – Kate Jury, Managing Partner

Leadership effectiveness may be one of the most debated topics available, but ultimately, this is reflective of its importance and wholescale impact. You know a good leader when you meet one, and you also know a bad one, worse, you may have known a damaging one. Staff can suffer from trauma and even PTSD from working to a leader who is ‘toxic’.

There is one single common feature of a good leader and that is trust. Trust must be exhibited on so many levels, with absolute consistency. A loss of trust can be catastrophic and unrecoverable within the psychology of a working relationship.

What trusted leadership looks like

Here are the determinants of trust expressed as statements:

• I trust that even if you have more in common with, or more affinity with my colleagues, that you will not disadvantage me because of that.
• I trust that if I challenge you, I will not be treated differently as a result.
• I trust that you won’t discuss me behind my back and that you won’t ‘lobby’ around me.
• I trust that you will have my best career interests at heart; if I have a great idea, it will be treated as such, if I achieve something I will not be accused of ‘straying out of my lane’.
• I trust that I can come to you for expert advice, but I also trust that you are humble enough to say ‘I don’t know’ on occasions.
• If I get things wrong, I will be treated with regard, compassion and kindness.
• I will know that (within reason) I will be able to approach you at any time and will be well received, or I can trust that you will make time with me later.
• I trust that I won’t feel discounted by you.

Why does this matter?

Good leadership is not only about expertise and knowledge, it is fundamentally about fairness and consistency. People trust consistency and they fear unpredictability. Fear creates dysfunction, dysfunction creates consistent underperformance, and underperformance creates the opportunity for harm to occur. Good leadership can halt this downward spiral.

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