As a leader, you will know that trust is immensely important. Trust is a crucial ingredient for any sustainable relationship. However, the conditions brought about by Covid 19 pandemic are filled with uncertainty, mortally threatening, and shifting rapidly. With these frightening circumstances, trusting our leaders is an indispensable factor. So if you are constantly seeking to further develop as a leader, how can you ensure you maintain trust during the current challenging time?
In the current situation, there exist a few guidelines that can be referenced from the past. While some people are asking lots of relating to the pandemic, the livelihood of others has been lost with everyone wishing for economic reopening. This is surely delicate navigation between financial security and safety. For these type of situations, its often better to consult with a corporate finance advisory firm to secure the financial future of your business.
The consequences of losing the trust of leadership during this crisis can be devastating. So what are the crucial building blocks of trust?
Develop as a Leader and ensure the following 5 things are known about you:
1. You understand people’s needs
Leadership is more about service than power. Tuning in to the expectations and needs of followers should be the first task of every leader.
For instance, when Nelson Mandela can come from prison and later became a president, he experienced prospects relating to a racial conflict that developed over years of resentment. Nonetheless, he had a peaceful transition and offered blacks a chance to take part as equal citizens with the whites.
In doing this, Mandela showed his true love for all the citizens of his nation and his determination to lead a united nation. The support for South Africa’s all-white rugby team in 1995 when it won the World Cup was the most dramatic moment for Mandela.
That was a great unifying moment. The president maintained that the fight was not much about freeing blacks from oppression but about liberating whites from fear of the blacks, says commentator Tokyo Sexwale. The majestic achievement of Mandela was contributed by an understanding of his citizens’ concerns.
2. You possess skills to solve people’s problems
Besides having empathy, leaders should demonstrate the competence to act on it. Mastery of some special competence is needed in the current situation. Adaptive planning is crucial at this uncertain period that is surrounded by the risk of coronavirus.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former military general, sad that when getting ready for battle, planning is everything. Planning is very critical in dynamic conditions. It involves continuous assessment and re-evaluation, depending on the fact-based, fearless analysis of emerging realities.
The ability to plan and solve people’s problems has much to do with identifying what needs to be done, by who, and when.
3. You are concerned with the success of others not just yourself
The majority of the successful leaders are selfless, and they put the interests of their subordinates above their very own. People tend to build up motives based on trust. However, some leaders are not conscious of the success of their employees.
Most of these employees feel betrayed when their leaders seem to be pursuing their aims and not the interests of their followers. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, actions speak louder than someone’s words.
Therefore, someone’s actions reveal their true intentions. Employers can win the trust of their subordinates when they are concerned with their success.
4.You keep their promises
However small or big a promise maybe, an effective leader should ensure to keep it to the end. Breaking a small promise makes it hard for one to be trusted even when he or she makes a big promise.
It is recommendable for one to carefully give a though to a promise before speaking it out to anybody. This will help a leader to be sober all through so as not to break promises that he or she will make. When promises are kept, the followers develop a positive feeling towards their leaders.
5. You always talk about the truth
Telling the truth indicates that a leader has faith in his/her followers. It is wrong to think that as a leader, you can handle bad reports and that your followers can’t. Fortitude and character aren’t functions of the laid ranks.
In times of crisis, it is recommendable that one should tell the truth as it is without picking out the favorable data or leaving out the negative information. This will help a leader not to distort the information and hence directing the followers accordingly.
The pandemic seems to be moving rapidly, and reality is changing daily. Due to this, leaders should have the courage to come up with measures to deal with the uncertainties and realities of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, they should make an effort to win the trust of their subordinates.
