My founding beliefs
In my experience, those who get to the top rarely do so without strategic capability, functional expertise and a strong track record for delivery. Head factors.
However the ability to create followership, emotional connection and trusting relationships whether that be with employees, peers, senior stakeholders, customers and consumers is talked about, rationally understood, but is much harder to attain and less practiced.
My work is based on 3 fundamental beliefs:
- Trust creates value: As a marketeer I learnt fast that loyal customers and consumers buy more, more frequently and spend more with those organisations and brands they love and trust. Likewise as a leader, loyal employees tend to stay longer, create and give more to the companies and leaders they trust and feel connected to. They are more likely to exceed performance expectations, miss fewer days of work due to illness, are more resilient to the concept and pace of change. They also are far more likely to go the extra mile for their customers – not because they are told to, have to or are paid to but because they care.
‘100 Best Companies to Work for in America’ (in which trust constitutes 60% of the criteria) earned over four times the returns of the broader marker over the prior seven years. - Trust drives momentum: high levels of honesty, openness, emotional connection, empowerment and collaboration creates an energy that speeds up trust and therefore results. On the other hand an over dominance of rational analytical styles, complex systems and processes, duplication, aversion to risk, poor engagement and belief in the leadership and high churn whether that be amongst customers or employees all signal low trust and are a drain on energy, capability, pace and results. It can feel like wading through treacle to get anything done and can give rise to a sense of impossibility to do anything about it which is where employees start to check out: literally or emotionally – feeling frustrated and resentful or just doing enough to get by but with their heart not in it
Both high and low engaged employees cite stress as the top reason for leaving a company. However, they define stress differently. The highly engaged cite obstacles that prevent them from working effectively. For low-engagement employees, the causes are typically related to low perceptions of management and lack of confidence in the organisation’s direction. - Trust has a very logical and rational aspect to it, do we do what we say we will do? consistency and follow through tend to drive trust, as we tend to filter past experience and behaviour as a predictor of future delivery. Trust also has an emotional component. It is something we instinctively and intuitively feel. Empathy and authenticity – are we for others? do we say what we mean and mean what we say? – have an energetic quality that goes beneath words which we human beings are highly attuned to picking up on (whether we consciously know it or not). Self awareness of our own styles, preferences, strengths, pitfalls and filters – and the willingness to understand those of others – both have a huge impact on our ability to trust and be trusted. So are you a motivator, collaborator, interrogator or calculator? Do you have a tendency to lead with your head or your heart? If we want to build trust and influence others, it really does pay to know ourselves well.
trust = momentum = results