Trust is the Superpower Every Leader Needs

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Hi and welcome back to Reflect Forward. I'm your host Kerry Siggins and I'm so glad you

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: are here today. Today I want to talk about how trust is the superpower every leader needs.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: As we know, trust is crucial in leadership. It really holds teams together. It builds strong

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_00]: relationships. It drives performance and growth. It drives engagement. And so in this week's

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: episode, that's what we talk about. I explore why trust is such an essential leadership

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: trait. I share some stories and some stats on how trust impacts business success. And

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll explore three ways to harness trust as a superpower. Trusting yourself, trusting

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: others and being trustworthy. So I'm often asked about my book, The Ownership Mindset

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and how do you create ownership thinking within your organization? And I always say

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: it starts with trust. If you do not trust your team and if your team doesn't trust

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: you as a leader, no one is going to own it. People are not going to engage in their work.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: They're not going to have the courage to raise their hand and speak up. You won't delegate

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: if you don't trust your employees. And a lack of trust just generally impacts morale

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: negatively. So trust is really important. And in fact, it does really drive business

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: growth. A survey done by PWC PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 55% of business leaders

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: see a lack of trust as a major threat to their company's growth. So that's really

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: important. If you want to grow your team, if you want to grow your business, if you

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: want to hit your goals, you have to have trust. It's the foundation of

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: everything. So let's talk about the three pillars of trust and why this is such

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: a superpower. And really you need all three of these as a leader. The first

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: one is you need to trust yourself. You cannot be a trusted leader unless you

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: believe in yourself, unless you trust yourself. Trusting yourself means that you

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: have confidence in your abilities, your decisions and your judgments. It's about

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: being genuine and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. And it's about

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: sticking to your values. When you trust yourself, you come across as confident

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and dependable, which helps others feel safer and taking risks and

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: innovating. In an episode a couple of weeks ago, I discussed why you need

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: to stop saying sorry so much. And I think this really dovetails into it. If you

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: haven't listened to the episode, go back and listen to it because it got really

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: great feedback. And I think it's something that we all do. We tend to

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: over-apologize. And a big reason why we tend to over-apologize is that we lack

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: the confidence in ourselves, which means that we don't trust ourselves. And

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: when we over-apologize and we over-explain, it comes across that way

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: to others that we are just not a confident leader. So trusting yourself

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: is really important, not just for how you perceive yourself, but for how you

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: perceive others. Self-trust is also the foundation of resilience. In fact, it's

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: paramount for resilience. I consider myself to be a really resilient person.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I've definitely bounced back, in fact even bounced forward from really,

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: really tough things in my life. Mostly self-induced, but that's okay.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what resilience is. If you're going to be an effective leader,

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: especially at the C-suite, you've got to be resilient and the only way

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: that you can actually bounce back and bounce forward from adversity is

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: trusting yourself. Leaders who believe in their instincts and their capabilities

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: better handle uncertainty and make tough decisions. I saw this in COVID when

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: we had to make really tough calls and think so many leaders did, so many

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: people did not know what to do. But those leaders who trusted themselves

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: knew that they had to make decisions that they didn't know what the outcomes

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: were going to be. I was in this situation, we had to lay some people off.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: We had to make significant cuts. My goal was to just make sure that the company

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: survived. We would figure out what 2021 was going to look like afterwards.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Even though I certainly had doubts, I trusted myself. I said,

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I know I can get through this. Even if I make the wrong decision,

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: even if my predictions about how this is going to turn out are wrong,

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: which at least some of them were, that's okay. We're going to get through it.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to make the very best decision with the information that I have

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: right now and I'm going to trust that I can get through anything,

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that I can lead us through anything. That is how you handle uncertainty

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's how you handle making tough decisions. Leaders who also trust

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: themselves inspire that confidence in their teams. It really does create

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: a culture of empowerment and accountability. I know that because

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I lead with trust and trusting myself and saying, you know what,

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to be okay even if we make a mistake or our decision doesn't

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: result in the outcome that we were thinking. We are an incredibly

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: resilient and strong organization. My team believes that too.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: They've witnessed it and so your self-trust is also contagious in a good way.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It absolutely makes people say, okay, we can get through anything.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So remember trusting yourself isn't about personal growth.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It really is about studying the tone for the rest of the organization.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: The second one is trusting others. Trusting yourself is important,

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: but equally as important is trusting others. When you trust others,

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: it means you are not fearful of delegating tasks, that you are

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: good with empowering your team members and believing in their potentials.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Trusting others means that you give them the freedom to make

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: decisions and learn from their mistakes because let's face it,

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: that's how we all learn. We learn from things not going well,

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: from screwing up. And so you've got to trust others and trusting others

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: isn't about trusting that they're going to do things perfectly and not

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: make mistakes, it's trusting that even when things go wrong,

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: they're going to be able to figure it out because they can learn

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: from those mistakes. Trusting others is also a powerful way to show

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: that you have faith in your team's abilities which builds mutual

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: respect and loyalty. I really work hard with my team here at Stone

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Age to show them how much I trust their decision-making skills.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I just trust you to make this decision. You do not need to run

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: this by me or if you want to just gut check something that's fine,

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: but I trust you. Trust yourself to make these calls.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Just recently I was working with one of my team members on a really

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: big project and she was nervous about making the wrong decision

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: and I said, you are great at your job. So why don't you

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: just think about what you think the best decision is overnight

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and then make that decision tomorrow and then come in here

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and tell me how that felt and what the outcome was by making

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: that decision. You don't have to make it in here right now,

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: just tell me how you want to handle it. And she did. She went

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: home that night. She thought about it. She made the decision

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and she rolled it out and she came back and told me how well

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: it went and how that helped her build her confidence and she

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: said thank you for having faith in me in making this decision.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, that's the only way to learn how to make

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: decisions is to make them. And the only way to figure

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: out if it wasn't the right decision or a decision that

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: didn't get the outcome that you wanted is to make those

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: decisions. So it really does build that respect and that

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: loyalty and it helps you develop your people when you

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: trust others. And like entrusting yourself, it has

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: a positive chain reaction. Employees who feel trusted

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: are more engaged, more motivated and more committed

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: to their work. In fact, a Gallup study found that

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: employees who feel trusted by their leaders are 14 times

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: more likely to be engaged. And that's what we all want.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: We know there's horrible statistics about disengagement

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: or active disengagement. We need employees who are

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: showing up every day, giving their best because they

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: feel motivated and the only way that they feel motivated

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: is if they know that their leader trusts them.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: This high level engagement absolutely translates into

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: better productivity, more innovation and overall

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: success. So trusting others not only boost team

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: performance but it also fosters that trust

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout the organization. So give trust away.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I understand that it might be hard and yes, people do

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: need to earn it but don't withhold your trust.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It really does reduce morale and decreases in

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: engagement and it makes people not want to show up

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and do the work that's in front of them.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The third thing is you've got to be trustworthy.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: To make trust a superpower, you have to be

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy yourself. This means being consistent,

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: reliable, transparent. It means you keep your

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: promises. It means that you are always honest in

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: the face of challenges and that you admit your

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: mistakes. It means that you always act with integrity.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Trustworthy leaders can be counted on to do what

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: they say and say what they mean. This is so

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: important. So if you are not keeping your

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: commitments, you're not trustworthy. If you

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: cover up mistakes or you hide challenges from

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: your team then you are not trustworthy.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Being trustworthy also is key to credibility and

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: influence. So I just was having a conversation

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: with my son who was telling me about a friend of

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: his who was cheating in golf and he told me I

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: knew that he didn't actually have a lower score

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and so all of a sudden I wanted to cheat too

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and we had a huge conversation about character

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: because being honest, being trustworthy is

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_00]: absolutely about character. I shared with him

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: having character means that you are always

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_00]: honest. If you are honest then you are

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy. If people think that you're going

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_00]: to cheat then they don't trust you and if

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: you don't trust you then you have no

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: credibility and you aren't actually winning.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's great. You say you won but you know

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: deep down inside that you didn't actually

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: win and so why would you want to take

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00]: credit for that? That is not being a

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy person that is not living with

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: character. Trustworthy leaders inspire

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: their teams to be trustworthy having that

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: ripple effect. Just like untrustworthy

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: leaders or teammates also inspire others

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: to be untrustworthy. It matters how you

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_00]: show up. You set the tone as a leader, be

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy. So those are the reasons why

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: trust is a superpower. Trust is more than

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: just an essential trait for leaders. It

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: is absolutely a superpower that can

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: transform your organization. I know

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_00]: that because our organization here at

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Stoney Age is absolutely built on trust.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It's built on open collaboration, open

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: communication. We're an open book company.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I trust my employees to act like adults

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: to honor the responsibility that they

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_00]: have for our strategy and our customers

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and for our financial performance. And

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: when you trust yourself and you trust

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: others and you focus on being

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy you can create that

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_00]: environment of mutual respect and

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: collaboration and high performance.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And as business leaders it's really

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: crucial for you to develop this

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: superpower so that you can drive

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: personal and organizational success.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_00]: All right. I hope that you enjoyed that

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: again. Remember the three pillars of

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: trust as a superpower is trusting

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: yourself, trusting others and be

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: trustworthy. Focus on all three of those

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and I promise you that you will

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_00]: achieve more success and your

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: employees, your team, your teammates

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: will enjoy working with you immensely.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: With that I will leave you to your

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_00]: day. I hope you have a great one.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: If you like this podcast please share

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: it with a friend, write a review,

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: subscribe to it on your favorite

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: podcast platform or on YouTube and

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you next week.