When it comes to leadership, nothing substitutes for trust. There is no such thing as a leader without followers and there are no followers without trust in the leader. Again and again Jesus called his followers to trust him: “put out into the deep water for a catch” (even though they’d fished all night and caught nothing); “follow me”; “believe (trust) in God, believe (trust) also in me”. Stephen Covey’s book, “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything”, explores this indisputable and indispensible leadership factor. Covey says that trust is based on two basic factors: character and competence. Those are not “either/or” factors, but rather “both/and” factors. Just because I believe someone is a person of character doesn’t mean I’m going to trust them to lead me, I have to also believe they have some expertise in where we are going. Those two factors lead to credibility and that opens the door to lead.
Covey says there are “four cores of credibility”:
· Core 1- Integrity: our words and actions are consistent (congruence).
· Core 2- Intent: our motives are pure
· Core 3- Capabilities: our talent, skills, knowledge
· Core 4- Results: our track record
(Integrity and intent are matters of character, while capabilities and results are matters of competence.)
It is important for us as leaders to assess ourselves, and maybe more importantly, to assess how others see us in each of these areas. What are we doing to increase people’s level of trust in us as leaders? What are we doing to increase our integrity, purify and communicate our intent, enhance our capabilities, and increase and communicate our results?
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