Maybe this happened to you before…if you don’t add oil to your car or your lawn mower, you are soon going to soon have problems. Why? Because oil is the magic ingredient that reduces friction.
In the workplace, there can be tons of friction. As the leader, part of your job is to reduce that friction and keep all the units working together smoothly. One way to day that is through developing a higher level of trust between yourself and those who report to you. Low levels of trust stifle innovation. If you aren’t trusted, your team will not act as a cohesive unit; they will provide you with excuses instead of answers to problems; they will not seek out new information or ideas, and they will treat any suggestions with suspicion.
It’s an unfortunate fact that many employees and executives spend a good part of their work day documenting their words and actions. People feel that that they need to reverse document everything they do in order to be “covered” in case of a problem. The cost to do this with regard to time lost and money spent is staggering.
Trust is the expression of faith that makes it easy to have confidence in another person’s ability to perform well and keep promises. A leader must give his or her word and then stick to it. The moment that he or she does not, all trust is lost.
To develop a high level of trust, you need to be honest, straight forward, and act with integrity. People must have faith that you will always do the right thing, not the safe or easy thing. A leader must act in unselfish ways, caring about others before their own interests. Additionally, a leader must encourage innovation and risk, without the fear of being reprimanded or fired. Through innovation and creative ideas, company members will begin to explore new ways to be more productive and work together more as a team.
As you develop this level of trust, you will find that your team will begin to view you as a leader, as opposed to the “one who can fire me.” You will sense of lessening of friction, because your team knows where you stand and how you feel. Your team will know that there is no such thing as a “dumb idea” and that you welcome creativity and progress.
To be a more effective leader, you need to lubricate yourself and your team with the magic “oil” of trust. Unlike that for you car or lawn mower, this oil doesn’t cost you anything but time, discipline, and dedication.
WHY ARE YOU WORRYING?
Many people spend a lot of time worrying. The strange thing is that they are always worrying about something or someone of which they have no control.
What Is “really” Your Passion?
William Batten, a former executive at J.C. Penny once said, “There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money – except that it should not become the sole objective. The end should be to provide a service or product that people need.”
