Destruction of Leadership Trust

Posted on May 22, 2013 by John G. Self

Leaders must sublimate themselves to the needs of others. Superior leaders are committed to the organization’s mission, more than their individualistic needs and are prepared to sacrifice themselves for the higher purpose.

Donovan Campbell

So writes Morgan Witzel, a fellow at the Center for Leadership Studies at the Exeter University School of Business in his Financial Times review of Donovan Campbell’s interesting read, “The Leader’s Code.” Previously, Mr. Campbell wrote “Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood” about his experiences as a leader of a platoon involved in counter-insurgency. [Audio Here]

The author, Mr. Campbell, a former Marine Corps captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, begins by persuasively arguing that people no longer trust their leaders, whom they see as greedy and selfish, Mr. Witzel writes.

“The widespread destruction of trust has left a leadership vacuum that is slowly becoming filled with despair.” The author contends that this is true in business and government alike.

Mr. Campbell argues that the military style of servant leadership, whereby the leaders are the servants of the organization they lead, not its masters, is a useful guide for business leaders of today, Mr. Witzel writes.

To get things done, Mr. Campbell argues, leaders must build relationships of trust with others. Much of today’s business reporting on leadership focuses more on process and insufficiently addresses the foundation of moral purpose, Mr. Campbell believes.

As I wrote in Monday’s blog, trust is not a one-way street. Leaders must regularly reassess what they are doing – thought, word and deed – to continue to earn the trust of those they lead.

Military commanders know and understand this. Officers are taught this immutable truth from day one. Understanding this, I am always amazed at the reluctance of many healthcare organizations to hire military officers as they attempt to transition to civilian leadership.

It should be a major part of civilian graduate education programs.

How Do You Know Your Employees Trust You?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by John G. Self

Trust

That word is intrinsically linked to leadership. It is an underlying value in most companies – the CEO and the senior leadership trust their employees to do the right thing.

trust

The more important questions for the CEO are, “How do you know that your employees trust you? Why do they trust you?”

Harry Herrington, Chairman and CEO of NIC, Inc., a provider of on-line services for federal and state governments and a former police officer, said that employee trust of leaders must be built around engagement and transparency.

In an era of business management fads and boatloads of business books touting seemingly clever, sometimes one-off approaches to leadership success, transparency and engagement are two characteristics that are decidedly not in the fad category.

This was the theme of Adam Bryant’s Corner Office column in yesterday’s New York Times business section – “If the Boss Rides A Harley, He Must Be Human.”

This column is an essential part of my Sunday morning newspaper reading. I highly recommend it along with another Sunday business section staple, The Boss.

Mr. Herrington believes his number one job is to set the culture of the company because culture will drive success and integrity (and the quality of the people who want to work for the organization). But his is just one voice among many. So why is he a successful leader?

The short answer: He bought a Harley.

“About that time, we were organizing a big company conference with all of our general managers. So I had 200 employees in Oklahoma City for a marketing conference and I thought, I’ve got this brand new bicycle…so I decided to ride the motorcycle to the conference…” When he arrived, replete with his cycle leathers and helmet under his arm, his team was dumbfounded. Immediately, the Harley, an ultra-classic in law enforcement blue, became the hit of the meeting. Employees thought it was cool. Instead of serving as merely an imitate the boss moment, sparking a surge in Harley sales among NIC employees; Mr. Herrington leveraged employee reaction to build on his role. He created a feature of his office visits called, obviously enough, “Ask the CEO.”

Instead of questions on the company’s five-year strategy, Mr. Herrington fielded decidedly personal questions like where he went to school. Why did he get into law enforcement? Why did he leave law enforcement? How many kids does he have? Why do you prefer pink shirts when you play golf?

When he shows up on a motorcycle, Mr. Herrington said, it casts him in a different light – as a human being…” not trying to be one of them, not trying to be someone I am not.” Employees, he believes, want to understand what makes you tick, to understand how you think.

And that brings us back to the trust thing.

Serving the Barking Dogs

Posted on May 15, 2013 by John G. Self

When an airline treats their dog passengers – the barking, tail-wagging, four-legged variety – with enormous care and concern for their well-being, there is hope for the passengers as the post-merger cultural transformation evolves.

puppy in crate

When an airline, or any business for that matter, treats it customers as mere talking widgets necessary to drive profits to justify consolidation of two mediocre businesses then that is a bad sign for the passengers and the future of the enterprise.

How we treat our customers, regardless of whether they are dependent and barking or not, defines who we are as people and as a company. It is easy to tell the dogs to shut up in a moment of frustration, but will do no good.