The one behavior that will make a leader great
At NAFCUâÂÂs Annual Conference this past June, attendees heard from author and business strategist David Horsager on the importance of trust. His main point was that trust is the foundation to a healthy, successful organization. In fact, he said âÂÂthe biggest expenseâ todayâÂÂs businesses have is a lack of trust.
I was reminded of HorsagerâÂÂs speech recently when I read an article by Marcel Schwantes, the principal and founder of Leadership From the Core, about the one behavior that makes good leaders into great ones. Can you guess one that one behavior is? ThatâÂÂs right. ItâÂÂs trust.
Schwantes cites Fortune magazineâÂÂs 100 Best Places to Work For list. He says the research on those 100 companies shows they all have leaders who do things time and time again that âÂÂcorrelate well with leadership trust behaviors,â including:
- keeping lines of communications open;
- sharing their vision for the future with employees;
- offering employees ample opportunities for training and development; and
- constantly listening and responding to what they hear from those within their organization to meet their needs.
âÂÂThere is an absolute ROI when organizations invest in creating a high-trust culture,â Schwantes writes. âÂÂThese factors ultimately lead to a competitive edge and enable companies to quickly bounce back from challenging situations.âÂÂ
IâÂÂll leave you with HorsagerâÂÂs advice to all those in attendance at NAFCUâÂÂs Annual Conference: âÂÂYou want to change one thing in your credit union this year; it has got to do something with trust.âÂÂ
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