12/11/2012
The word trust often arises in discussions about leadership, and so it should. Trust is one of the fundamental requirements to build and nurture productive relationships albeit personal or professional. Authentic leaders have this quality in spades and recognise it as a cornerstone of building sustained, productive and effective relationships.
Trust is also the great enabler of learning
Trust also correlates with reciprocal commitment, a basic social norm. When commitment is not reciprocated relationships suffer, in some cases irrevocably, and can sour in areas such as financial matters. In the workplace this can manifest in discontentment with remuneration as a symptom, when indeed other deeper issues may be at play.
Trust is also the great enabler of learning, and when trust takes leave in an organisation so too does learning. Knowledge becomes absolute power in the absence of trust as stakeholders move to hold their cards close to their chests. Intuitively this makes sense, does it not? If the organisation ceases to learn then it is destined to make the same mistakes over and over. Even if instances of success are achieved, the chance of replicating them is slim because the organisation may be unaware of what created success in the first place. These instances can be called ‘unproductive successes’ – we are experiencing success but don’t know why!
If the organisation ceases to learn then it is destined to make the same mistakes over and over.
The term ‘Learning Organisation’ coined in the nineties is well known, however, this capability seems to be even more indispensable in today’s increasingly dynamic environment. Rapid changes in technology combined with socio-economic and political reforms in Australia and around the world are making it increasingly more difficult for leaders and their followers to forecast the future, or at least the way in which we have done it in the past. If change continues to accelerate at its current pace (which seems likely) leaders may only catch glimpses of the horizon for as we begin to come near, it moves again. Moreover, it may require leaders to ‘re-think’ and ‘re-phrase’ their vision for the future and strategic timeframes. Interestingly, ‘Re-thinking’ and ‘Re-phrasing’ skills are key capabilities of a coaching leadership style.
This narrative provides some insights into the critical aspects required of our current and future leaders. That is, an insatiable appetite for dealing with ambiguity and change with strong capacity to build trust at all levels and nurture reciprocal commitment to inspire and foster sustained organisational learning.
For leaders and their followers that choose to keep an open mind and take a fresh, solutions-focused approach in today’s exciting and dynamic world, the opportunities are rich and varied. Often it can be as simple as the way we choose to look at things – relishing failure and not fearing it, as a pathway to personal and professional success.
…It’s the moment that you think you can’t; you’ll discover that you can….
(Extract of lyrics from The Power of the Dream)