Leadership Competencies – Trust
Recently, Inside Higher Education published an article presenting a research study on the seven competencies needed by university presidents. What struck me about this article is that there were no real surprises in the list. I didn’t see anything new or different from any other discussion of presidential leadership in recent years. I also thought the list, except for part of one item, is a list of competencies for anyone in a leadership role and anyone who has these competencies is likely to be seen as a leader whether or not they have a leadership title or role.
While I didn’t find the study to be ground breaking, I do think a bit of time exploring each of these competencies could be worthwhile so I saved the article. I’ll share my thoughts on each competency over the next few weeks (though I might insert other topics if they catch my attention.)
The first competency on the list is trust building. I’ve learned two basic ideas about this topic that have stayed with me over the years.
One is from a presentation by Barbara Glanz, a professional speaker who “works with organizations that want to improve morale, retention, and service, and with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives.” https://barbaraglanz.com/about-barbara/
During her presentation, she stopped to ask us if we knew the definition of a saint. When no one did, she told us “a saint is someone who does everything they say they will.” Think about that for a moment, about what it means to do every single thing, big and little, that you say you will do no matter what gets in the way, no matter what changes happen in your schedule, or list of things to do.
When I stopped to think about it, I realized that one of the necessary elements for completing everything we say we will is to first think carefully about the statements and commitments we make. We often say yes to things, with all good intentions, but without having thought through the time needed or the schedule we have between now and then. This can be especially true, if the task is minor or routine. Being thoughtful about the commitments we make, our ability to accomplish them, and our willingness to be accountable when we face difficulties may or may not lead to actual sainthood, but it will go a long way to building trust with everyone around you.
The second idea is Stephen Covey’s equation for being trustworthy: Competence + Character = Trustworthy. This made immediate sense to me the first time I heard it. It’s not helpful to be a leader of character, if they are not competent in the task at hand. I might trust that leader to watch my belongings, but not to lead me through a significant organizational change if they’re missing the competence half of the equation. Conversely, a leader may be capable of implementing change, but if we can’t trust them to be honest about what’s happening, about the purpose for the change, or any number of items, team members won’t feel like they can take risks or be creative in their work.
Trust is a foundational competency for leadership and it makes sense that it heads the list from this survey. When leaders are struggling to lead their teams, they need to be honest with themselves about their own trustworthiness. Have they taken on a task which is beyond their skill level? That’s hard to admit but it’s a critical question. It’s even harder to admit that it may be a character problem, but sadly, it doesn’t have to be a major character flaw but can be something as basic as doing what we said we would do. As we all know, it doesn’t take much to destroy trust.
How often do you stop to think about your work building trust? If you haven’t thought about it lately, I encourage you to take some time to think about these two items. Are you doing what you have said you will? Where do you see yourself in the trustworthiness equation?
Trust, like so many competencies, requires constant work to build and to maintain, but without it, it’s hard to be much of a leader.
Take care,
Gage
Link to the Inside Higher Ed article; https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2024/09/16/study-seven-competencies-presidents-need
Link to Harvard Business Publishing on Building Trust https://www.harvardbusiness.org/good-leadership-it-all-starts-with-trust/