Trust and Leadership

What define a leader?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines leader as "A person who leads."

Then, who is a leader?
Since a person who leads is a leader, anyone from a father, who leads a family, to a C.E.O., who leads a company, is a leader.

Right: My dad who leads my family

How do you become a good leader?
I always thought a good leader is critical, calm, and sharp. Because I thought intelligence was all there was to be a good leader, I considered myself to be a leader material. When it comes to I.Q., I am fairly confident that I am far behind any leaders. I have been a member of Mensa with I.Q. of 150+ since 4th grade, so I am not WRONG to assume that I'd be in top 2% in terms of intelligence. Sadly, I.Q. doesn't mean much when it comes to leadership. Having high I.Q. has some merits, but high I.Q. is not an essential quality of a good leader. Here is an example, a new CEO of a company failed and was fired after one year because "[the new CEO of a global company who tried to change strategic direction] thought he could change the company through intellect alone, without moving people emotionally" (Course Anthology 244).

Having high I.Q. doesn't mean anything if you don't do anything with it...
I mean... look at ME! haha

Apparently, we need more than just pure intelligence to be a good leader: "Gifted leadership occurs where heart and head-feeling and though-meet" (Course Anthology 243). Intellect and clear thinking are mere "characteristics that get someone in the leadership door" (Course Anthology 243). After entering the leadership door, one must resonate with the group in order to lead it well. In order to connect with others, one needs his right side of the brain, which controls emotional aspect of a human being. For example, left-brain dominant leader is well-organized and run detailed and systematic orders; however, things are too mechanical in this environment and little gets done unless the followers are internally motivated. On the other hand, right-brain dominant leader empathizes with the followers and shares a common vision; even though his system is looser and seemingly less productive, his group will accomplish more because heart is involved. Followers, or producers as Covey calls them, tend to work harder and be more productive under a right-brain leader because they are more motivated. Hence, Covey suggests, "Manage from the left, lead from the right" (Course Anthology 226).

Door to leadership

Because personal connection is so important, communication is suppose to be "the most important skill in life" (241). However, I believe TRUST is even more essential quality in a leader, not to mention the group itself. It is interesting how much emphasis my dad puts on the issue of trust, and I never realized how important it really is. He always tells me, "If you lose credit, you lose it all." That is so true. It is hard to build credit, but it is so easy to destroy it. Once trust is lost, it is hard to earn it back. My dad told me to show up 15 minutes prior to any meeting because if I'm late once, I'm labeled as the person who is always late. However, if they see me show up 15 minutes early everyday, then they think I'm an earnest guy. This is a trait I must work on in order to be a better leader. I try my best never to break any promises, but it happens occasionally. And I know that I'm losing credibility whenever I do. Having trust of the employees is a must because "Trust is the highest form of human motivation," according to Covey (Covey 178). Trust is the key to building relationships with the followers. A group, led by a leader who lost his credibility, can be anything but dysfunctional. Covey gives an example of a faltering institution due to lack of trust (Course Anthology 240); the president of the group was having an affair and everyone knew about it. Because "he had violated a sacred trust with his wife," his employees distrusted him (Course Anthology 240). Distrustful employees had no incentive to work hard, and productivity plummeted. However, failure due to lack of trust is not uncommon: "90 percent of all leadership failures are character failures" (Course Anthology 240). This statistic just reiterates how important of a trait trustworthiness is.

This is what U.S. economy is based on: TRUST

No matter how smart one is, he cannot possibly do everything by himself: "The late J. C. penny was quoted as saying that the wisest decision he ever made was to 'let go' after realizing that he couldn't do it all by himself any longer" (Covey 171). Thus, he must LEAD. To be a good leader, he must both have the capabilities to think critically and the heart to unite the group. For me, I am capable of critical thinking; however, I am not so great at latter. In order to improve my leadership, I must first work on building credit, and hopefully I'll attain "two wings that allow a leader to soar" (Course Anthology 243).

Soaring with wings: heart and head.