The importance of trust in leadership cannot be overstated.
The importance of trust in leadership cannot be overstated.
Leadership is built on trust.
Unfortunately, trust is tenuous. It is really quite fragile, and it is only ever lent to leaders.
The fragility of trust reinforces the need for consistent, stable leadership. Therein lies the challenge of leadership: every leader—even a trusted one—eventually transitions out of their role. Changes in leadership will happen. Whereas every ministry will experience changes in leadership, you must plan and prepare well ahead of such change. You cannot ignore issues associated with leadership changes. It takes time and intentional activity to properly establish a leader in a ministry.
Taking time to properly establish a leader helps create a sense of confidence and trust in leadership individually and organizationally.
Trust is really quite fragile, and it is only ever lent to leaders. The fragility of trust reinforces the need for consistent, stable leadership.
At every level of human interaction, trust is needed.
Trust must be present at an individual level; at a group or community level; and at an organizational level. Without trust, there is no relationship. There is no point of connection. No cooperation or collaboration. Whereas each of these are the basis of effective leadership, you cannot lead if these are not present.
At this point, it’s important to remember that trust involves someone being willing to be vulnerable, and vulnerability is risky. When someone places their trust in you, they give you permission to influence, affect change, and impact their lives. This is no small thing.
As a leader, you are trusted to the extent—and only to the extent—that you consistently exemplify competence, care, and integrity.
As someone places their trust in you, keep in mind these three factors. These directly influence the degree to which people continue to trust you as a leader:
Competence. You build trust as a leader when you adeptly meet the needs and demands of your role and responsibilities. More often than not, it is abundantly clear when competence is present or lacking. While you are not expected to be competent in every way or area, you do want to make sure there’s agreement on those competencies critical to advancing mission in your context.
Care. The area of care is concerned with the perceived driver or motivation behind any action or activity. You build trust as a leader when you authentically demonstrate concern and compassion. Authenticity is vital in this area. Care should not be feigned. Authentic demonstrations of concern and compassion can include setting a positive example, being kind and courteous, being open to learning and teaching, being approachable, and following through with commitments. These types of behaviours, when authentically demonstrated, can act as ‘the X-factor’ in building trust. They reinforce trust-related expectations.
Integrity. The area of integrity is concerned with your ability to adhere to predictable and appropriate patterns and principles. Adherence to these patterns and principles is a matter of consistency. You build trust as a leader when you consistently conduct yourself according to an appropriate and accepted standard. This consistency helps stabilize a ministry. It creates a sense of security for people.
The influence of these factors is so significant that leaders and ministries are trusted to the extent—and only to the extent—that their practices and processes consistently exemplify each one.
An on-demand video series on how succession planning can help ministries advance their mission.
Succeeding In Succession is an on-demand video series on how succession planning can help ministries advance their mission. This series is designed to help leaders and ministries sustain organizational health even as they experience a leadership change.
Everything you need for this series is right here.
There are 10 sessions, plus 5 additional bonus sessions. Each session has its own set of presentation slides and an accompanying handout. Together these act as an interactive learning experience.
You can choose to work through this series over time taking one session at a time or bundle all the sessions together at once for a team retreat or simply pick and choose sessions that will be most helpful for you. The best approach will best fit your context.