This post is Post 4 in a series of four about Integrity, the quality I consider to be “the currency of a great leader.” The next post in this series will come next week. Click here to go to the previous post in this series.
Being a leader is all about producing sustained results. The word sustained is included to mean to achieve results in the long term and not just to make a quarter or two financial projections. Without results a leader will not last. Great leaders have learned that in order to achieve sustained results, they must motivate others to join them on their quest to make their vision a reality.
The following are five keys to developing TRUST as a Leader:
1. Back up What You Say - If you say something is going to happen, then you must make it happen. In order for a leader to be trusted they must be believed. People in the organization will wait to seeif what they heard actually happens. Great leaders have developed creditability and trust and they will go to great lengths to protect that precious asset.
2. Walk the Talk - A leader does not lead an organization from behind their desk. They must be visible out on the floors AND they must also engage with employees and patients. For example, if there is a blizzard forecasted and the expectation is for all nurses and other essential employees scheduled to make it to work, then the CEO and Executive team ought to be on site and provide help wherever needed. You will be amazed how much this is noticed and talked about by the employees.
3. “Man Up” and Take the Hit - When something bad happens in the organization, take the responsibility for the results AND do not blame anyone. Too many times when something bad happens the CEO or other Executives will go to great lengths to explain what happened and ineffect blame someone for the bad outcome. Your job as a leader is to take responsibility, promise to fix the problem, actually fix the problem, and to make sure the organizations learns from the unfortunate situation.
4. Give it Away – Organizations that produce sustained results get noticed and often that positive feedback is directed back to the Leader. Great leaders know when this happens they must “give the praise and recognition away” to others in the organization. This is one of the greatest psychological rewards a leader can give to others in the organization. Every individual wantstwo things: to be recognized and to be understood. In this instance it is the leader’s responsibility to make sure others get the much needed recognition. Sending a letter or a hand written note to the employee’s home is something that will have a massive positive impact AND get posted on the “refrigerator door” for others to see.
5. Apologize - There may be times when something goes wrong either internal or external and the best thing to do once all the facts are known is to apologize. There are those in legal and leadership circles that believe you never apologize because that will only strengthen the pending lawsuit. Guess what- you are going to get sued anyway so why not try to recognize the mistakes and offera sincere apology. Years ago a hospital was responsible for the death of an elderly patient and the family was aggressively suing to “settle the score”. During the trail a family member disclosed much of the lawsuit could have been avoided if the CEO had only said “I am sorry”. Lesson learned.
If there are items you feel I did not address, please email me your thoughts.