Would you like to know the secret sauce to effective management?
According to the experts it’s Building.
• Building Trust
• Building Teams
• Building Broader Networks
BUILDING TRUST
Successful leadership is about influencing others, and trust is the foundation. You cannot influence anyone who does not trust you. The manager must work to cultivate the trust of everyone they work with. They do this by demonstrating the two basic components of trust: competence & character. Competence doesn’t mean being the resident expert on everything the group does; it does mean understanding the work well enough to make solid decisions about it, and having the courage to ask questions where they may be less knowledgeable. Character means basing decisions & actions on values that go beyond self-interest, and truly caring about the work, about the customers (internal or external) for whom they do the work, and about the people doing the work. If people believe in your competence and character, they will trust you to do the right thing.
They build trust by taking the opportunity to demonstrate their ability as they do their daily work, by asking knowledgeable questions & offering insightful suggestions. They use daily decisions & choices to illustrate their own values, expressing their concern for those who work for them or those for whom the group does its work. They reveal themselves, but not in an egotistical way, showing what they know, what they believe and what they value – and in doing this, they show themselves to be trustworthy.
They build a team by using problems & crises in the daily work to remind members of the team’s purpose and what it values most. They explain their decisions in these terms. They immediately call out team members who violate a rule of engagement – treating each other disrespectfully, for example – or who place their interests above those of the team.
They build a network by taking opportunities to build & maintain relationships with colleagues outside their group. They consciously approach problems that involve another group leader in a way that both solves the problem and fosters a long-term relationship. They proactively share information with outsiders who would benefit from it. They encourage their group members to take the same approach when they deal with outsiders.
These are not necessarily additional tasks to put on your “To-Do” list. Instead, strong effective leaders manage and lead through the daily work. They do this in the way they define, assign, structure, talk about, review, and generally guide that work. They are masters at using the daily work and its inevitable crisis to perform their work as managers and leaders.
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One Today Is Worth Two Tomorrows.
– Benjamin Franklin
