Leadership -
Trust
Consistency
There is a danger when you feel you have established yourself as a leader to let your standards slip.
Maintaining influence is about maintaining trust. Once people notice a slip in your standards be it communication, honesty etc followers start to melt away. It is hard then to regain that trust.
Over a period of time it is easy to look for short cuts in the process. This can be dangerous leading to a lack of trust.
Character
A person cannot change his basic character although he or she might mask aspects in the short term.
It is this basic character trait that attracts the trust of others.
People are not very forgiving when it comes to issues resulting from actions against character.
An additional problem here is ‘guilty by association’ for all persons at that level of management and within that field.
Results
At the end of the day trust is built on results. Other facets such as integrity and dealing fairly with people will play a huge role in helping to build that trust.
Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. Managers often encourage their staff to admit errors not cover them up.
This allows a rapid response to keep a project on track and experiences can be shared.
A good leader should not be afraid to admit mistakes.
This action will allay fears of covering things up and enhance your reputation for openness and communication.
Trust will rise accordingly.
Lead from the front and others will follow. Set the standards and uphold them.
A project where mistakes are not recognised can have extreme effects.
This can include anything from escalation of costs or in extreme cases individual lives if mistakes are made during a military campaign.