Leadership Skills and Building Trust

I found two interesting papers by The Ken Blanchard Companies, Critical Leadership Skills and Building Trust, on the internet.

Critical Leadership Skills

The article reports on the findings of four studies conducted by the company, and that the critical skills are:

1. Communication/listening skills - reflective listening, use of a variety of styles, and providing relevant information
2. Effective people management skills - adapting the leadership style to suit the individual follower and the situation, modeling desired behaviours, and coaching
3. Emotional intelligence/empathy - putting the needs, issues and concerns of followers ahead of the leaders own; empathy, concern, engagement; valuing others, preserving their dignity.

Close to my own philosophy, if not performance!

Building Trust

The "high cost of low trust" has these components:

1. Low morale
2. Lower productivity
3. People 'quit but stay'
4. Increased turnover

The report finds that four elements (ABCD) of trust are:

1. Ability - demonstrated competence
2. Believable - acting with integrity
3. Connected - demonstrating care and concern for other people
4. Dependable - reliably following through on what one says one will do

The "trust busters" are

1. Lack of communication
2. Dishonesty
3. Breaking confidentiality
4. Taking credit for another's work

The "trust builders" are:

1. Giving credit
2. Listening
3. Setting clear goals
4. Honesty
5. Following through

The 8 things a leader should do to improve trust:

1. Demonstrate trust
2. Share information
3. Tell it straight
4. Provide opportunities for everyone to win
5. Provide feedback
6. Resolve concerns 'head on'
7. Admit to mistakes
8. Walk the talk

This reinforces the "critical skills" but adds more on 'how to'.