#8 – Quality of a Leader- A Leader Should Know How to Develop Trust

Trust is one of the most important, if not the most important, factors in building any effective relationship among other people. Without trust, a relationship is stagnant and unstable. It will not lead into anything successful.

Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus define trust as the glue that binds followers and leaders together. Therefore, without trust, there is nobody to lead and there is nobody to follow. A leader would not give his people big responsibilities if he does not trust them. He would not expect good results from them either. On the other hand, his people would hesitate to follow their leader's commands if they do not trust him or any of his decisions.

In simple words, trust should exist between both the leader and his people in order to come up with a sound relationship, which in turn would help them reach their goals. There is nothing to lose when you trust. In fact, you even benefit more from the people you give your trust to, as they exert more effort to match the expectations you assume from them.

On the other side of the story, besides learning to trust your people, you should also be able to build their trust on you. People will not listen to you when they do not trust you. They must believe in you first before they follow your leadership. It is, therefore, the leader's responsibility to develop that trust in him actively from the people around him.

Trust implies accountability (being responsible to other people or things), certainty (being confident and assured), and reliability (being able to depend on due to accuracy). It must be developed every time, but you must be very cautious in handling it. Ever heard the cliche It takes a long period of time to build trust and only seconds to break it?

Beware of actions that can betray trust such as

-  breaking promises (over and over again)

-  telling bad things behind one's back

-  creating untrue stories and gossiping

Remember that trust is the bond that makes the relationship between you (as a leader) and your people last. Build it strongly.