Trust in Leadership – 5 Key Practices to Earn Trust

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Guest post by Daniela Baker

One recent article in Forbes magazine examined the interesting phenomenon behind a shift in today’s leadership principles. The article’s author asserts that old leadership models were based on power because business was essentially about competition.

Today’s more collaborative, creative business models, on the other hand, require leaders with high emotional intelligence – business leaders who can build trust among their colleagues and employees.

The bottom line: if you want to make it as a real leader in today’s business culture, you’ve got to earn trust from those above, below, and beside you. Here are five key practices to help you do this:

1. Be vulnerable

On some level, trust comes from authenticity. If your people see you as an authentic, open, vulnerable human being, they’ll be more likely to trust you.

There’s a fine line to walk here, though. You don’t want to be naïve and set yourself up to be taken advantage of, but you do want to own up to your failures and be honest and humble. One way to do this is to let some of your personal life into your work – though, again, there’s a fine line to walk here. Another way to do this is to admit past or current mistakes, especially when mentoring your team members.

2. Don’t pass the buck

President Harry Truman was famous for the wooden sign on his desk reading “The Buck Stops Here.” One of the reasons Truman was able to build trust in those around him was that he wasn’t afraid to take responsibility for his decisions.

This should be one of your mottos as a trust-building leader. Yes, there will be times when other people will mess up, and you’ll have to deal with that. But if a decision ultimately comes down to you, make the choice, and then stand by the consequences – good or bad. If your team knows that you aren’t going to try to pass the blame to someone else, they’ll trust you more.

3. Stop micro-managing

Micro-management in the work place is a great way to tear down trust. That’s because trust is a two-way street. In order to feel trust for you, your team members also need to feel that you trust them. And if you’re constantly micro-managing their processes, they won’t feel that you trust them.

If you think you might possibly be a micro-manager, talk to others about this. Then, learn to step back and let your team members do their work. This may mean leaving room for failure, but it also means leaving space for others to learn from their mistakes.

4. Allow room for confrontation

As a leader, people will trust you more if they feel that they can bring up negative points about you, your team, a project you’re working on, or whatever. You don’t want to seek out confrontation, but you should leave space for healthy, professional confrontation that, in the long run, improves relationships.

You can create this culture by not shying away from the hard conversations with your team members. And you can create space for negative feedback by meeting with your team members on a regular basis. If you are confronted about a mistake, a choice, or something else a team member is unhappy about, listen to their complaints, take them seriously, and handle the confrontation as professionally as possible.

5. Tell it like it is

Talking in circles or constantly using subtext in your professional life is another way to break down trust. To build it up, practice telling it like it is. Open up; write a blog that others can see. For instance, we publish a blog for small business owners to help us earn trust from partners, small business owners, and our fellow team members.

This doesn’t mean you need to be tactless, but you do need to be direct and honest. If you have a reputation for directness and honesty, others will learn to trust what you say about yourself, your team, and your work.

Remember, building trust takes time, and it’s a very relational thing. You can have a great reputation for trust company-wide, but if you break trust with one person on your team, you’ll have to work hard to rebuild that person’s trust in you. This takes time and effort, but if you consistently put these five habits into practice, you’ll be a more trustworthy leader in general.

Daniela Baker from CreditDonkey is a small business blogger and social media advocate.  She studied journalism and new media. She has lived on three continents and collaborates closely with a select group of international publishers. One of her favorite quotes is: “Decisions are made by those who show up.”

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The Product Management Perspective: Trust is the most important characteristic a product manager can possess. To effectively work with development, sales and other teams in your organization you must gain their trust. Trust is key to understanding your customers and your market. Trust is a two-way street: you need to carry out your tasks in such a way that the team members will trust you. You also need to trust that the team members will do what they have committed to do. The five key practices listed above provide an excellent roadmap to developing trust with your teams.

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Three characteristics of great leaders

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Michael Ray Hopkin

If you want to be a great leader, you have to be a great follower. All the great leaders I have studied talk about the people who encouraged and inspired them to do great things. In almost every case, it wasn’t just one person who inspired them; it was a number of people. You will find some level of the following three characteristics in all great leaders:

  1. They study successful people: They have devoted significant time and energy to studying great leaders of the past and present. They take careful note of the results that have made others successful and find ways to incorporate the learning into their daily life.
  2. They take direction: Great leaders are willing to take direction from others. The ‘others’ could be a spouse, a boss or a religious leader. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t matter; they respect others and are willing to listen and take direction. They learn to trust in guidance outside themselves.
  3. They are humble: Most great leaders, both past and present, are humble, unassuming people. By ‘humble’ I do not mean weak or simple, but modest and self-effacing. They have a way of inspiring greatness in others while not drawing attention to their own successes. They look for ways to help others build confidence and find happiness in the successes of the people they help.

Think & Grow RichI can think of many leaders (past and present) who embody these characteristics in their lives. Napoleon Hill exemplifies a leader who was a great follower. He studied the lives of successful people for more than 20 years and compiled his findings in the book Think and Grow Rich.

He coined phrases like “thoughts are things” and “the mastermind” and quotes such as “whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” The interesting thing about Hill’s success as a leader was that he did not set out to become a leader. He humbly agreed to a challenge by Andrew Carnegie to learn about his secret and take it to the world. In part because of his willingness to be a follower (and a learner) he became a world-renowned author and leader.

Who are some of the great leaders you look up to? Do they exhibit these characteristics?

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The Product Management Perspective: As the product manager you are on the front line for your products. You carry a huge responsibility for their success. Read about and study successful people (both inside and outside of PM). Be humble and open to taking direction from others. Incorporate these characteristics into your behavior and you will find increased success with your products.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Leadership and perspective

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Having the right perspective creates opportunities. It gives you the ability to see things you hadn’t seen and understand people in ways you hadn’t thought about. It helps you focus on new ways to be more effective.

I read an interesting article by former NFL quarterback Steve Young about the perspective of a 6-foot quarterback. He talks about the difficulties of finding open receivers (to throw to). He remembers being sacked for a loss. His coach said, “Steve, Jerry Rice was open. You were protected. Why didn’t you throw the ball?” Steve said, “I didn’t see him” to which the coach replied, “you’d better start seeing him.” Steve goes on to state the following on perspective:

It was really all about perspective, or lack of perspective, and how I had to learn to throw it blind. I wasn’t going to grow. I couldn’t put springs on my feet. T/here were no stilts, no high heels. The perspective was what it was. So I dealt with it by saying to myself, ‘I just saw Jerry Rice. I know where he’s going. I’m going to throw it anyway.”

He learned to trust his receivers to go where they needed to go and trusted in himself to throw to where the receiver was expecting the pass. As a leader you rarely can see the future clearly, but you still need to make decisions and move forward trusting they will work out for your benefit.

It’s important to review your perspective on issues and make sure it’s aligned with what you want your organization to achieve.

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The Product Management Perspective: I added this section (more than four years ago) for the purpose of linking leadership principles to product management best practices. Effective product management is intricately tied to leadership; in the absence of effective leadership, product managers rarely succeed at getting the right products to the right markets at the right time.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Leadership and effective communication

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Effective communication is one of the most challenging aspects in life. Regardless of your role in any organization (company, family, church, etc.), understanding the intentions of others and communicating your objectives is trying at times, and occasionally downright frustrating. However, if you want to build strong relationships of trust, effective communication is absolutely critical. Here are five key considerations:

  1. Recognize the issue. In the majority of cases where poor communication is the problem, the primary issue is not recognizing poor communication. Too often it seems the problem lies with the other person, or they don’t listen, or they are just stubborn. More often they don’t understand your intentions. Step back and look at the bigger picture; you might be surprised by what you see.
  2. Look for solutions. Never try to pin the problem on the other person. Talk through the issues and look for signs of misunderstanding. Take the approach that you want to solve problems and the answers will follow.
  3. Exercise patience. It’s easy to get frustrated when you disagree with another person’s actions or behavior. Exercising (literally having or working out) patience is key to solving problems. Lead out in making things happen to improve your relationships. Be humble and open to things you did wrong.
  4. Forgive. Holding grudges and acting out of pride has brought down many companies, families and even nations. The simple solution is to forgive and move forward without holding grudges.
  5. Don’t wait. When you recognize an issue, don’t hesitate to act. The longer you wait the harder it is to approach the person and have the conversation. Act quickly and you will be surprised how much easier it is to resolve the problem.

Every relationship is worth the effort it takes to communicate effectively. Leaders, regardless of their role, need to focus constantly on assuring they communicate effectively and listen intently. Make it a habit; it will save you from having to face much bigger problems.

Did I communicate this message effectively? Please leave a comment with your ideas.

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The Product Management Perspective: Communication is key to effective product management. Keep a close eye on all your relationships and make sure you are communicating effectively.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Leaders Who Follow Rules

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Leaders who follow rules have subordinates who do – Guest post by Jack Meyer

Great leadership skills are those that are developed over time. Although textbooks and classes can help you improve the kind of leader you want to be, it takes real-life practice and implementation to make you great. A successful leader has the trust of those under him or her and is supported by those subordinates. Without the respect of those who follow you, there will never be real greatness to your leadership. Developing that trust can take time, but once it’s developed there is nothing the whole cannot accomplish.

1. The Boss – Many people will have an attitude that they can do whatever they want because they are the boss. Although it may be true, it doesn’t mean that it’s the most productive way to act. Resentment among your subordinates can cause dissension within the ranks and can cause irreparable damage to the unit.

2. Realistic – Rules and guidelines need to be realistic for your subordinates. You don’t want to set them up to fail, but you don’t want to be too lax either. You’ll need to establish a firm set of rules without making the task too difficult to follow. Being hard on your subordinates doesn’t always work out for the best. However, you don’t want to be too lenient on what is expected of your team.

3. Respectful – Being respectful to your subordinates is an easy way to have respect reciprocated. Fear-mongering and power abuse don’t earn respect…they create fear. Many individuals will confuse one for the other, and it could create a hostile environment. Respect is earned from being a leader, not given from leading the unit. If you respect the boundaries of those under you, they will respect yours in kind.

4. Bending the Rules – Sometimes, being the leader has its advantages of being able to bend the rules to fit a certain circumstance. Although bending the rules can potentially improve the productivity of the unit in those circumstances, you don’t want to bend them too often. If a leader is seen as bending the rules on a regular basis, the subordinates will begin to do it as well. If everyone is bending the rules, then it begins to create chaos within the environment.

5. Set in Stone – Rules don’t have to be set in stone. Periodically, a revamp of the rules may be necessary to encompass technologies, living environments, and anything else that can cause contradictions within them. If more organizations took a yearly look at their rules for conduct, many issues could be avoided. One suggestion is letting the subordinates assist in create the new revamp of the rules. It gives them a sense of empowerment and shows that you trust their judgment. However, don’t give them too long of a leash. Let them assist you, but don’t let them do it for you.

6. Passing Responsibilities – Assigning a protégé to act as your team leader could help you keep order among your subordinates. If your organization is larger than five or six people, having a buffer may help keep the team focused. Like you, your team leader needs to be an example. You’ll need to have someone who can follow the rules and enforce them just as you would.

A true leader will guide subordinates by example. Following your own rules can set the tone of how your subordinates view you. They are more likely to follow the rules if they see that their leader has done so. Act as how you’d like your subordinates to act and a well-organized team can develop.

Jack Meyer is a freelance writer and regular contributor at www.nannybackgroundcheck.com/. He has a passion for various subjects like education, career and technology, Parenting etc.  If you have any questions email Jack at jackmeyers08 [at] gmail.com

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The Product Management Perspective: Product managers play a key role in forming productive teams. Lead out in being realistic and respectful to your team members, and they will happily follow.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Three leadership questions

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Michael Ray Hopkin

As another year comes to a close and a new year is on the horizon, it’s natural to look back at how things went in the past year and resolve to do better in the next. Here are three questions to ponder as you prepare to lead on purpose in 2013:

What are you doing to build trust with those you lead?

Building trust is a critical factor in leading others to success. Trust is a two-way street: you need to live and act so that others can trust you, and you need to trust others to do what they say they’ll do. Randy Conley points out a key factor in building trust: “Repairing broken trust can be a long and arduous process, and the best way to build trust with others is to not break it in the first place.”

How will you influence those you lead?

Great leaders have an uncanny ability to influence others. It’s important to focus your influence in positive areas that will build others. As Mike Myatt said in a recent post, “A leader simply operates at their best when they understand their ability to influence is much more fruitful than their ability to control.”

Are you confident in your ability to succeed?

Acting with confidence can feel like walking a tightrope: if you have too much of it you come off as cocky or arrogant, if have too little you’re seen as passive or weak. Yet developing confidence is a defining key to success. “Act confident even when you feel the opposite. If you know that you can look like a confident, capable person, eventually you’ll start to feel it, too.” This is just one of many excellent ideas on unleashing your inner confidence by Lolly Daskal.

While not all encompassing, spending time answering these questions – and taking steps to improve based on your answers – will get you off to a great start in 2013.

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The Product Management Perspective: Leadership in product management is developed over time; however, certain skills accelerate that development. Building trust, exercising positive influence and showing confidence are key skills for developing successful products. Spend time developing these attributes and you will reap the rewards.

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Five Years of Leading on Purpose

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Tomorrow marks the five-year anniversary of the day I started Lead on Purpose. It all started because of an invitation to publish an article in The Pragmatic Marketer (Jan 2008). I wanted an outlet to write about how you can lead regardless of your position or title. Five years has flown by and blogging has become a part of my life.

Writing this blog has been a great learning experience for me. On this anniversary I want to share a few of the key lessons I’ve learned about blogging and life:

Keep it short: Say what you want to say in a few words as possible. (I haven’t always done this.)

Leaders are learners: Take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn new things.

Producers prosper: Those who work hard to build, design, create or imagine new things are called “producers” and they always prosper.

Relationships are key. Spend time building relationships with family, friends and coworkers. Leadership is a relationship.

Trust is vital: Gaining and keeping the trust of those with whom you interact is vital to your success.

Lead with integrity: If you want to enjoy more success in life, live with integrity, lead with integrity.

Many thanks to all of you, the readers, and a special thank you goes to those who have actively participated through comments and guest posts. Here’s to another five years!

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The Product Management Perspective: I love product management! I’ve spent the last 12 years working in product management in one form or another. Interacting with you – the product management professionals of the world – is what keeps me going, encourages me to continue writing and stokes the flames that make learning and growing so satisfying.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Lead by Example

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Michael Ray Hopkin

Five Ways to Be Influential and Succeed with Your Team

Guest post by Tess Pajaron

At my former job, I had a boss who would consistently tell people how important it was to leave the office on time and balance work and life. Then, he would text in the evenings, brag about how late he stayed after everyone had left and go into the office each weekend. He did not lead by example and it made the workplace confusing, uncertain and ultimately stressful.

Being a leader can be difficult. You may have some employees who communicate differently than others, conflicts to overcome within your team and roadblocks that can stunt creativity. But in the end, when you lead by example, you set the tone for your team and create a culture in your department and office.

Here are five ways you can lead by example and influence your team to innovate and succeed every time:

1. Communicate Effectively

Open communication is one of the most important aspects of solid team cohesiveness. Solid communication starts by listening. When you as the leader listen to your team members, you in turn lead by example and demonstrate them the importance of listening each and every time. This skill of listening can be a challenge for some teams, but when you set the example and create a culture of listening to various opinions, ideas and feedback you give your team a forum to feel comfortable expressing their ideas. This has been shown to improve innovation among teams. When each person shares their opinion openly, ideas come together and everyone plays an important role in the outcome of the project.

2. Practice What You Preach

Great leadership is done with integrity and honesty. When you practice the same good habits that you preach to your team members, you show integrity in your actions and become more trustworthy. Walking the talk goes a long way with employees when it comes to how much they respect what you have to say. When you do the opposite of what you request of them, for example not leaving the office on time and working weekends, your employees begin to doubt your leadership and wonder if they should be doing as you say or as you do. This can create a sense of confusion and quickly drive a team apart.

3. Empower Through Delegation

You brought your team together because you, or someone else in your organization, trusted in your employee’s ability to help your organization. Delegating out tasks hands over this trust and shows your team that you believe in their capabilities. If you do everything yourself, you are not leading by example but instead you are sending a signal that their input does not matter and that it is your way or no way. To have the most success, engage your team by providing them tasks to accomplish and lead by being a resource of information to help them accomplish what they are capable of.

4. Share Responsibility

A certain sense of humility goes in to leading a team well. When you discuss openly, you may find that you are wrong. Being able to admit that you are wrong for the greater good of the project and team success is a prime case of leading by example. When you can do this, you also allow your team to feel as if it is acceptable when they are wrong on an idea making them feel more comfortable with their creativity and idea generation. These ideas help fuel innovation, so sharing responsibility and being proactive in coming up with the best solution for the project as a group is essential.

5. Set Goals

Finally, having an end goal in sight that every member of the team is working toward will help you to lead toward that goal. This will allow you lead by example as you work hard toward the end goal. When your team sees you working hard toward the end goal, they in turn will do the same.

Leading by example can be difficult but using these five tips can make you a more influential leader. This is what will make you and your team a success.

Tess Pajaron is part of the team behind Open Colleges. She graduated in Business Administration with a major in Management. When not working, she loves to travel and discover new places and cultures. She can also be found on Cerebral Hacks, where she regularly contributes articles about psychology.

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The Product Management Perspective: The five ideas above are all important aspects of successful product management. One of the key ideas from my perspective is building trust. Product managers who trust the other teams to do their job, and work/act in ways that allow others to trust them, have much more success with their products.

Filed under: Integrity, Leadership, Team Building, Trust | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Guest Post: 3 Tips for Building Trust on your Team

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Michael Ray Hopkin

By Susan Wells

Get to know your employees.

“People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – an old axiom, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.

Showing your employees that you care about their well being is more than providing great benefits and insurance coverage. The corporation provides benefits, while individuals develop trustful and caring relationships.

People want to be inspired, and to really tap into the passion and enthusiasm that drives your employees, you will need to get to know them. Focus on uncovering their passions and goals. Even if these goals are unrelated to work, this knowledge will provide insight into the activities and skills that captivate your employees’ free time and energy.

Be active in your engagement. Don’t manage from behind a desk, but instead get out there and mingle with people when possible. If you think this could disrupt people’s work patterns, you can hold “office hours” in which your employees can chat with you about new ideas or problems.

Take the backseat.

When communicating ideas, the most important thing for a leader to do is listen. Speak last when possible. Provide a brief summary of what everyone has discussed, highlighting the key points. This will show everyone that you have listened, that you understand and appreciate their words and thoughts.

When it is your turn to speak, you will be able to compare and contrast your thoughts with what has already been said. This is a tactic that will allow others to be opinionated, and it will make them feel more involved in the decision making process. This is also known as letting other people think the decision was their idea.

Recognize when an idea is better than you own.

When I was in college, I worked as a customer service representative at a family-owned furniture store. It was a multi-million dollar business that was growing fast, and we often encountered problems that we weren’t sure how to solve. My boss gave me a lot of responsibility and a lot of credit. Sometimes, when I would get overheated with a problem, I would go to him for advice.

“I trust you to make the right decision,” he would say. “I’m only successful because I hire people smarter than me.”

Of course, he was a great businessman; but he recognized that he needed a team full of people who were better than him in certain areas. He recognized that his people were assets.

Preserving your ego can make you seem untrustworthy. Strong leaders don’t fear being proven wrong and they aren’t intimidated by the success of others. An ego that hoards credit will destroy trust, but generosity of spirit will strengthen it.

Susan Wells is a freelance blogger who enjoys writing about automotive and health news, technology, lifestyle and personal finance. She often researches and writes about automobile, property and health insurance, providing consumers with access to a trustworthy insurance quote guide and unbiased advice on purchasing. Susan welcomes comments.

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The Product Management Perspective: Not new to Lead on Purpose is the adage that people are assets. Product managers who remember that one thing and act accordingly, have great results with their team and their products.

Filed under: Leadership, Trust | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

Guest Post: Confidence in management

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Michael Ray Hopkin

By Dominic Wake

Confidence in management is falling – can you stop the rot?”To see yourself as others see you” – that’s the general premise of the 360-degree feedback process.

Managers across the world certainly struggle when it comes to working out how well they are doing. The politics of the workplace, the lack of willingness for employees to give an honest assessment of their management style or business behaviors means that many organizations are left with ineffective managers in place. A management style unsuited to a business can do more harm than good in the long-run – yet 360-degree feedback can be a pivotal tool in inspiring positive change, letting you tailor your training to precise needs.

A 360-degree feedback evaluation uses information from peers, subordinates and supervisors to put together an overall assessment. As the feedback received by fellow peers is anonymous it promotes more of a positive performance review process. This is because the manager (or employee being reviewed) will not know who said what about him or her that may lead to unnecessary hostility and resentment in the workplace.  The input is very valuable since it gives the person receiving the input a much more complete perspective on their performance and on areas where they can improve their skills.

Unfortunately however, despite these benefits, many businesses are yet to wake up to the benefits which 360-degree feedback provides. A recent survey conducted by ETS found that employee confidence in management is falling. Almost half of the 500 workers it sampled (43%) felt that they are better people managers than their own boss and 23% say that management standards are getting worse. Furthermore, nearly a quarter of employees (22%) don’t think their boss has adequate people management skills.

Employees highlighted the need for managers to receive formal feedback from direct reports. Despite 91% saying that this would be valuable, just 42% of employees are currently invited to provide feedback to their manager as part of their appraisal or through 360-degree feedback.

Line managers play a crucial role in the success of any business by driving the performance level of teams. In the UK it’s common to see high-performing people promoted into management positions without the skills, desire or support to manage a team. Communication skills and the ability to provide constructive feedback are key development areas for managers. After all, companies that fully understand the importance of a manager’s role in driving performance prioritize training and development to help managers be more effective.

Although 360-degree feedback can go some way in providing a solution to a business management needs, it is not without its critics. It has often been claimed that the anonymity it provides means that follow-up questions or clarification on certain topics or issues raised is impossible. This lack of clarity means that some managers may not be able to make changes to their work practices. Another criticism leveled at 360s is that the politics of the workplace can lead to those people participating conspire make a manager look better, or worse, than they actually are.

What is clear though, is that 360-degree feedback offers something to managers that standard appraisal surveys don’t. With proper training and support, this system has a positive aspect in management performance. After all, providing consistent improvement in organizational production is the goal of any business – support your employees and you’ll also be supported.

Dominic Wake is Director of ETSplc where he is responsible for leading human resource projects across performance management, development and engagement.

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The Product Management Perspective: As a product manager you can have important effect on the information that gets sent back to line managers and executives. Because PMs are typically “in the know” about many things that happen in the organization, you have a great opportunity to share information and do it in a way that will significantly help the organization. Don’t hold back information when you know people need to hear it. Have the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said.

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