In my work with a range of institutions, a number of areas need vital attention and focus. Here’s a short list:
- A Clear Mission
- Trustworthy Leadership
- An Effective Team
- Essential Funding
- Creative Environment
- A Vision-Driven Culture
- A Strong Community
- Recognition for Work
- Shared Ownership
- Enjoyment of Work
If I asked you to select two that matter most, the two that give you the most return for your investment of time and energy, which would you choose? You might say, “It depends…it can change month to month.” I get that. But over time, over the long haul, do any rise to the top of the list?
Here’s my “Top Two” and I admit I am biased. Much of my life has been dedicated to building and shaping these two. So yours may be different, but I hope mine are in your top 5. What are my two? I selected Trustworthy Leadership and Strong Community – and here’s why.
#1: Trustworthy Leadership
Competent leaders can perform in many areas on the list: they have a clear mission, build great teams, recognize fellow leaders and teammates, secure the resources and funding needed, and share the ownership. But that only goes so far. Competent leaders must be trustworthy leaders if they want to lead well for the duration.
So competency, while essential in leadership, takes a backseat to trust. My friend Mark Miller capture’s this and much more in The Heart of Leadership: Becoming a Leader People Want to Follow.
To be clear, competency and trust feed one another. Competent leaders are easier to trust and truly trustworthy leaders are open to receive feedback for growth. But trust is the core trait. Without a culture of trust good leaders eventually leave and younger talent that began thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe I get to work here!” soon start lamenting, “Wow, I can’t believe I HAVE to work here!” Here’s what it looks like when trustworthy leadership is in short supply:
- A start-up business keeps chasing capital as the leader points fingers: “Initial sources have dried up,” because “our investors just don’t understand us.”
- A large church loses great staff while a top leader explains that they have been “called elsewhere.” But insiders know the controlling leader nudges them out the door by giving no space for fresh ideas or shared leadership.
- The board at a major land grant university asks the president to leave even though she is a strong leader. They say they needed to “rein her in a little” because she was “endangering our values.” I am wondering…long-standing values like complacency and rigidity?
This breakdown in trust kills organizations or forces everyone into image management until they can move on.
#2: A Strong Community
Competent leaders build strong community, not a team of “yes” men and women who lack courage, withhold speaking truth, and linger because of fear, insecurity or a bigger paycheck.
A strong community – in a hospital, a manufacturing company, a high school, or religious non-profit – creates a thriving organization. Anthropologist Margaret Mead famously observed: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Here is what strong sense of community produces where you work:
- A healthy staff culture where the real truth can be told
- Less turnover and more shared leadership, vision and ownership
- A feeling of belonging and connection (Brene Brown would say love!) It might be worth looking again at her landmark TED talk here.
- Freedom to fail, demonstrate love, and express vulnerability
Trustworthy leadership combined with a strong sense of community creates a thriving and enduring organization.
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