Leadership, who do you Trust?

Leadership – Who do you trust?

At the heart of the leadership challenge lies the ability to instill trust, engagement and a sense of belonging to the group, to the cause, to the challenges. The people around you need to be able to see you. To really see you. Without the layers of armour that typify ‘organisational speak’.

67% of the global workforce is disengaged, with a further 18% actively disengaged. Work related stress claims cost Australian business more than $200m pa*. In our VUCA times, the question matters more than ever because trust is at the heart of our most meaningful relationships. It’s the most valuable bond between business and customer, between leader and employee.

Trust is the foundation to our relationships and it requires leaders to model behaviours that reflect self-understanding and social connection. And the interesting thing is that as leaders, we can stand in our own way. We stand between belonging, connection and trust when we aren’t being real.

One way we have to look at the conundrum of being genuine is we have to be available to embodiment. In order to instill trust we have to start first with our own embodiment. How comfortable are you in your own skin? How real can you be with the people around you? How genuine are your conversations and what are the masks that you’ve decided you need to wear in order to be successful? We all wear these, the key is to raise awareness of when we are wearing them and if they are serving the cause or not. Leadership demands you ask these questions.

Our next AS SHE SPEAKS program addresses the topic of being genuine. We are also addressing the language of power, rank and status. Richard will bring in his past work as a theatre director to embody powerful techniques to build confidence and make conscious choices in the way we show up as a leader.

We’ve been running this popular program since 2008, but the new AS SHE SPEAKS changes gears to assist women leaders in facing the big questions facing us now. To be heard. To be connected. To make a difference.

So what does this mean for your organisation? How clear are you on enabling your leaders to instill the trust and connection they need to thrive? Is your organisation focusing on relational capability or technical agility? What’s the mix? Please leave a comment or get in touch to discuss further.

*Sources: Statista, 2019; Gallup World Poll, 2017; Gallup State of the Global Workplace, 2017;