Tag Archive for: Trust

This week marks the two-year anniversary of the launch of my book, “The Power of Genuine Leadership: How Authentic Leaders Earn Trust.

The journey to create “The Power of Genuine Leadership” began long ago. The inspiration for this book first came at an early age when hearing the descriptive phrase of ‘being comfortable in one’s own skin.’  What did ‘being comfortable in one’s own skin’ mean? It was not until I became familiar with the connected concepts of ‘trust’ and ‘authenticity’ through my doctoral studies that I was able to truly begin to unpack this seemingly simple phrase to describe a powerful trait for leaders. And thus, the journey to create this book officially began.

The words ‘trust’ and ‘authenticity’ have become extremely popular, particularly over the last few years. But what do these words really mean? How are they connected? More importantly, how can leaders navigate the connection and dependencies of these two concepts? These questions were central to my doctoral research and thereby to “The Power of Genuine Leadership.”

The Power of Genuine Leadership” illustrates through story essential elements to become an authentic, trustworthy leader. There are several important insights contained within the book, derived from my doctoral research, real-life stories, and experiences from helping to develop leaders at every level for two Fortune 150 global corporations. Some of these insights include:

  • Authenticity without guidelines is irresponsible;
  • Authenticity without empathy is careless; and
  • Humility is much more than a willingness to be vulnerable.

However, perhaps the most significant insight within ‘The Power of Genuine Leadership’ is the power of behavioral consistency to create more effective leaders, and how empathy and respect are essential yet historically under-appreciated drivers of trust. This is a new contribution and emphasis to our understanding of leadership.

As I wrote “The Power of Genuine Leadership,” I wanted the book to be full of easily digestible, valuable insights with practical application for readers. Within the book, I detail my Authenticity Trust Model (ATM), which explores three critical components of becoming an authentic trusted leader: communication, coaching, and respect. Each of these critical components have enablers that – through real life scenarios and stories – come to life and encourage leaders to examine the consistency of their approach. Moreover, readers are also able to assess their own leadership strengths and development areas using the Authenticity Trust Assessment (ATA) included in the book. By reading and thinking through the core ideas within this book, leaders tend to reflect on their leadership style and apply action immediately within their leadership journeys.

Leadership is a discipline that can carry meaningful, life-changing experiences for both leaders and followers. My hope when writing this book – and now – is that the practical insights within “The Power of Genuine Leadership” can reframe what to prioritize as a leader and minimize distractions to focus on the critical few.

With that in mind, as I reflect on this two-year anniversary of the launch of “The Power of Genuine Leadership,” three thoughts come to mind: gratefulness, appreciation, and concern.

First, I am grateful for the Logos Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Leadership for their support, encouragement, and friendship through the process of creating this book. I could not have asked for a better partner, editor, and publisher. And I want to congratulate Logos on their 20th anniversary. I am equally grateful for the book endorsement and acknowledgment from several of my well-respected colleagues, especially Dr. Ken Blanchard, who continues to be a valued mentor.

Second, I am appreciative and struck by a steady stream of reinforcing comments from readers of the book. Descriptive words like “practical,” “digestible,” “thoughtful,” and “insightful,” continue to appear in reviews and conversations regarding the book. These comments reinforce my initial purpose, which was to provide a simple and focused framework for leaders to reference in their quest to build strong, trusting relationships and to be the kind of leader others want to follow. We must first be curious learners to become better leaders. It is a continuous journey to improvement.

Third, my concern is that we, as leadership development professionals, do not over complicate leadership and coaching tools. Albert Einstein was once said, “If you can’t explain it simply…. you don’t understand it well enough.” Einstein’s words provide important guidance for all of us. Moreover, there is no lack of advice, models, and self-proclaimed experts saturating social media with seemingly obvious guidance. This constant influx of information can be overwhelming. In contrast, I suggest that leadership development professionals lead with questions that encourage deep reflection and thought for leaders to ponder. This will encourage leaders to consider a simple framework that is easy to reference and that encompasses their most important leadership values; maintain consistency in their approach; and strive to stay curious and improve their personal journey every day.

Stay authentic and curious.

Patrick Donahue

 

“The Power of Genuine Leadership: How Authentic Leaders Earn Trust” by Patrick Donahue PhD is the third title in the Logos Institute Best Practices Series published by the Logos Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Leadership Press. Learn more about “The Power of Genuine Leadership” and get your copy here.

This reflective piece is part of our 20th anniversary celebration. Throughout this anniversary year, we will be sharing a series of reflections on the shifts and trends we have been following in business and in the world over the past twenty years, as well as advice to leaders and organizations navigating through the challenges we see today.

On January 21, 2022, Helio Fred Garcia was featured in an article on Communication Intelligence about a recent webinar Garcia led for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

The webinar, titled “Maintaining and Restoring Trust in Times of Great Change,” focused on the drivers of trust and techniques to maintain and restore trust in times of crisis.

In this interview, Garcia shared some of the core ideas and key takeaways from his webinar on January 20.

“Trust is the natural consequence of three related but distinct factors,” Garcia explained. He then described each of these factors in detail: promises kept, expectations met, and values lived. When you take these drivers of trust seriously, you are more likely to ask the right questions and make smart decisions in a crisis.

Garcia also explained one of the key reasons why organizations and leaders struggle to respond to crises effectively.

“Most failed crises arise when leaders fail to think of the crisis from the perspective of stakeholder expectations, but rather start from their own personal preferences, fears, anxieties, etc. This is the case in celebrated failed crisis response, from Volkswagen to BP to United Airlines to Trump COVID,” Garcia explained. “Making decisions in a crisis from personal preference is a mark of poor leadership and nearly always makes the crisis worse.”

Click here to read the full article.

On September 15, 2021, Logos president Helio Fred Garcia was interviewed by Michael Toebe at Communication Intelligence about what trustworthy leadership confidence looks like.

In their interview, Garcia outlines the ways in which some leaders use confidence to mask something else about the leader. “As with any leadership attribute, confidence is a double-edged sword,” he explained. “Confidence that masks incompetence or malice is often difficult to detect initially, but very often the signs are there.”

Garcia then advised on what to look out for when discerning whether or not a seemingly confident leader is worthy of trust. He noted that the differences between the genuinely confident and trustworthy leader and those leaders who are not trustworthy are self-awareness and humility. “Truly confident and competent people have enough self-awareness and humility to acknowledge when they’ve fallen short, and show how they will do better next time,” he explained.

Read the full interview here.

On August 10, 2021, Logos Advisor Maida K. Zheng, was quoted in Carol Roth’s Business Unplugged how small business can effectively deal with customer complains.

Zheng’s advice to small businesses: Remember that trust is key.

“One way you can think about customer complaints and negative feedback is through the lens of trust. Trust is the natural consequence of promises fulfilled, expectations met, and values lived,” she explained. “With that, CEOs/leaders should view any feedback they receive through that lens and if the complaint has to do with a broken promise, expectations not being met, or an experience that is contrary to the company’s values – the only solution is to do what is necessary to regain trust.”

Read the full article here.

On July 26, 2021, Logos President Helio Fred Garcia was quoted in an article on Ragan Wellness on what organizations should consider when planning their employees’ return to work post-COVID-19.

 

The article outlines the internal issues organizations are currently facing, noting that a recent survey found that 58% of remote workers would look for a new job if a hybrid work option is not on the table.

 

Garcia highlighted the importance of expectation management when communicating decisions on what a return to office looks like for organizations. “Expectation management is the key to a successful transition back to the office,” he explained. “Clear, frequent communication about what employees can expect—and what is expected of them.

 

Read the full article here.

On July 5, 2021, Logos President Helio Fred Garcia was quoted in Narbis on the ways management can successfully manage expectations around returning to the office post-pandemic. The article outlines the many considerations leaders need to assess when planning for a return to office.

 

“Whatever an organization’s plans are for the return of their workforce to physical office spaces, clear, frequent communication about what employees can expect — and what is expected of them — will support a smoother return and make them more productive,” said Garcia.

 

“Expectation management is the key to a successful and productive transition back to the office. When expectations are clearly defined and met, trust is either maintained or regained if trust has already been lost. When leaders fail to meet expectations, trust will fall, and dysfunction will likely rise.”

 

Read the full article here.

On July 1, 2021, Logos President Helio Fred Garcia was quoted in ASIS International’s Security Management Magazine on how to rebuild trust after it has been lost. The article outlines the ways in which the widespread of misinformation has led to a general loss of trust in political institutions and media organizations.

In the article, Garcia described the ways in which business could build or restore trust amidst the climate of misinformation, which is to fulfill the promises your business sets, remind people that the promise was made and share how the business fulfilled that promise, and then repeat the process.

“On all the things you know you’re going to do anyway, turn each of them into a promise,” Garcia says. “And if there are five steps to any one of those things, make that five promises.”

Read the full article here.

This is an excerpt of a guest column by Helio Fred Garcia, originally published in the May issue of PRSA’s Strategy & Tactics.

A foundational principle of any organization’s crisis response is that indifference to the situation is toxic. Leaders must show they care. This was true before COVID-19 and it will become even more essential as we recover from the pandemic, which has been the most disruptive crisis most of us have ever faced.

To be clear, the need for leaders to care during times of crisis is neither sentimental nor soft. Rather, caring is a necessary discipline for leaders — a fact made clear when we analyze the factors that build trust and reputation.

For all organizations, a common goal in every crisis is to maintain or restore the trust of stakeholders — which include investors, employees, customers, suppliers and increasingly, communities. And it’s much harder to restore trust after it’s been lost than to maintain that trust in the first place.

Trust is the natural result of promises fulfilled, expectations met and values lived. When people experience a company fulfilling its promises — whether those promises are explicit or merely implied by a brand’s identity — their trust in the organization remains or increases. When people see a brand break its promises, on the other hand, their trust in the organization falls.

Similarly, when customer expectations for a company are met, trust in the brand remains or increases. But when leaders or companies fail to meet those expectations, trust erodes.

Such expectations can be set by the company itself, through explicit or implicit promises and/or through precedents set by the organization’s past behavior. Consumer expectations also derive from laws and social mores, which change over time. Company leaders should always stay abreast of social expectations.

When it comes to the trust that rises or falls according to the values lived by a business, the company’s stated values set an expectation. When people experience a company living up to its stated values, their trust remains; conversely, when they see a company failing to live up to its stated values, their trust diminishes.

One of the disciplines of effective crisis response is to get the decision criterion — the basis of choice — right. A poorly handled crisis often results from leaders making decisions based on what scares them least. In times of crisis, leaders need to make decisions based on the tested criteria that determine trust.

 

Caring builds trust

When deciding how to respond in a crisis, leaders do well by first identifying their most important constituents and then asking themselves: What would reasonable people expect a responsible organization to do in this circumstance?

Reasonable people don’t take their cues from internet trolls or bots, from critics or adversaries or even from the news media or social media. Instead, reasonable people respond to those they trust and to those whose trust they need for themselves. Reasonable people have expectations that are appropriate to the crisis, to the harm that people have experienced and to the kind of organization that is experiencing the crisis.

A responsible company asks what reasonable people would expect it to do, which leads to the company having a fuller array of predictably helpful options.

Consider, for example, the scenario that an explosion has occurred at a factory. Reasonable people won’t expect a responsible company to immediately know what has caused the blast. Reporters will ask for an explanation and people on social media will speculate, but stakeholder trust won’t dissolve simply because the company doesn’t know the cause at the time of the explosion.

Reasonable people will expect the company to acknowledge what has happened, to work with first responders to rescue those inside the factory and to provide for the families of employees who were injured or killed.

We can inventory the specific expectations of different stakeholders — including employees and more particularly, those workers directly affected by the disaster; customers and more precisely, those who have used a certain product from a certain retailer on a certain date.

Regardless of the nature of crisis an organization faces, every interested party shares a common expectation: that the organization and its leaders will care. Customers, employees, investors and others expect leaders to care that the organization’s processes, systems or judgment have failed; that as a consequence people have been placed at risk and need to be protected; and that the company may need to make changes to prevent similar crises from occurring again.

In any crisis, what it means for leaders to care can vary according to the circumstances, but the need to care is universal. At a basic level, caring means that leaders mitigate any ongoing risk to people and help them out of the crisis.

 

Building for the future 

In the past year, half a million Americans have died from COVID-19 and 30 million others have been infected by the virus. The pandemic crashed the economy, forcing hardships on many people. Collectively, our mental health has suffered from the stress of the coronavirus outbreak, including the strain of being confined in our homes. How we work has changed, perhaps forever. At the same time, social and political divisions seem to be growing, not shrinking.

Having suffered these hardships, people are fragile, exhausted and vulnerable, even as they try to feel hopeful for the future.

Leaders should know that people need them to care, now more than ever. Some leaders might feel tempted to assume (or to hope) that everything has already returned to normal, so they can step on the accelerator for their businesses. And in non-crisis environments, that may be the case. But for leaders of organizations still recovering from the pandemic, the need for caring has only increased.

Caring requires empathy; and empathy requires humility. Leaders who have successfully guided their organizations through the pandemic have demonstrated humility within themselves and expressed empathy for others. As we move into recovery, we can follow their example.

Read full article here.

On April 28, 2021, Logos President Helio Fred Garcia was interviewed in The American Coin-Op Podcast about Coming Back from A Crisis.

Garcia discusses how crises follow predictable patterns, how much harm within a crisis is self-inflicted, and how to win back the trust and confidence of those who matter in a crisis.

Listen to full the podcast here:

 

On February 8, 2021, Helio Fred Garcia spoke with Bill Sherman on his podcast, Leveraging Thought Leadership. During their conversation, Garcia described some of the drivers for trust in the crisis, how he fell into thought leadership, how translates complex ideas for a common understanding, the influence of philosophy on his life and career, and his advice on how people can become thought leaders.

Listen to the full exchange below: