Trust Your Subordinates

Written By Brian Tracy | Leadership Success | June 14th, 2011 | 6 Comments »

The key to getting followers in every case is to “trust your subordinates.”

The Definition of Leadership

Leadership has been called “The ability to get followers.” One of the deepest cravings of human nature is the need to feel important, to have a sense of meaning and purpose in life and work. Leaders are invariably those who can tap into the deeper emotions of others and get them to rise above and beyond anything they may have accomplished in the past.

Inspiring Words Lead to Victory

Winston Churchill was able to arouse and motivate an entire nation with inspiring words like these: “Let us so carry ourselves that if the British Empire should endure a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.”

Spearhead a Turnaround

Lee Iacocca stepped into Chrysler Corporation when the company was almost bankrupt. Through the sheer force of his personality, his unshakable determination, his appeals to Congress, to Chrysler workers and to Chrysler customers on television, he spearheaded a turn-around that will go down in the history books as one of the greatest achievements in American business.

Trust Other People

The key to getting followers in every case is to “trust your subordinates.” Many studies have concluded that it is the mutual bond of trust and respect that acts as the catalyst that creates high performance. Not only must you trust others, but even more important, they must trust you.

Act with Integrity

In order to “get followers,” you must have integrity and your subordinates must have an absolute belief in your integrity. They must believe that you will abide by the highest ethical standards of fairness and justice. Integrity appears over and over as the most important leadership quality. People can only put their whole hearts into their work when they feel secure and they can only feel secure when they can relax and trust you completely.

For strategies on building trust, please read “Becoming a Better Boss: 5 Tips for Building Trust with Your Employees”

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to bring out the very best from the people who look up to you.

First, make people feel important. Tell them how important and valuable they are and then give them both the responsibility and the opportunity to do their job the very best they know how.

Second, set a good example. Be an inspirational leader by being a role model for everyone else to follow. The more people look up to you, the better they will do their work and the happier they will be.

Tags: act with integrity, have integrity, inspire others, inspiring words, trust others

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Leadership Success.