Page 11 - Leadership 20-1

LEADING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

By Richard Barrett

Becoming a successful leader—someone who is able to build a long- FIGURE 1: THE TRUST MATRIX
lasting, high-performing team, organization, or community—is not
about what you do, although that is important; it is about how you do
what you do—it is about living your deeply held values.
Sustainable advantage and enduring success—both for companies
and people who work for them—now lie in the realm of how, the new
frontier of conduct. 1
What my research and the research of others shows is that values-
2
driven teams, organizations, and communities are the most successful
3
on the planet. Values-driven organizations generate higher earnings;
they are more customer-focused and more productive, and they have
higher levels of employee engagement, higher retention rates, and lower
absenteeism. Because employees feel cared for, they willingly bring their
creativity and discretionary energy to their work.
4
Values-driven organizations also generate more customer loyalty and
more societal goodwill. Te reason they do this is because they strive to
meet the needs of all their stakeholders. Tis in turn generates high levels
5
of trust. Trust is the glue that bonds people together and the lubricant
that allows energy and passion to fow. Trust builds internal cohesion. On the lef-hand side of Figure 1 are the values you need to live by to
Stephen Covey states: engender trust; on the right-hand side are the competencies that have to
be acquired to engender trust.
Trust always afects outcomes–speed and cost. When trust goes up,
speed will also go up, and costs will go down. When trust goes down, Character is a refection of how you are on the inside, your intent,
speed will also go down, and costs go up. 6 and the level of integrity you display in your relationship to others.
Tese depend primarily on the level of development of your emotional
Trust is an end value; in order to trust and be trusted other values have intelligence and social intelligence. Intent is demonstrated by caring,
to be in place. Figure 1 shows the components of trust. transparency, and openness; integrity is demonstrated by honesty,
1 Dov Seidman, How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything fairness, and authenticity. Whilst all these values are important,
(New York: John Wiley & Sons), 2011. authenticity is perhaps the most important value for building trust.
2 Richard Barrett, The Values-Driven Organization: Unleashing Human Potential Te authentic leader pursues purpose with passion, practices solid
for Performance and Proft, Richard Barrett, (Fulflling Books: 2013) values, leads with heart, establishes enduring relationships, and
demonstrates self-discipline. Te authentic leader brings people
3 Raj Sisodia, David Wolfe, and jagdish Sheth, Firms of Endearment: together around a shared purpose and empowers them to step up and
How World-Class Companies Proft from Passion and Purpose (Upper Saddle River, lead authentically in order to create value for all stakeholders. 7
NJ: Wharton School Publishing), 2007.
Competence is a refection of how you are on the outside; your
4 Discretionary energy is the energy that employees choose to devote to their work capabilities and the results you achieve in your role. Tese depend
over and above the normal amount of energy that is required for them to fulfll their primarily on the level of development of your mental intelligence,
duties or work contract. your education, and what you have learned during your professional
5 John Mackey and Raj Sisodia, Conscious Capitalism (Boston: Harvard Business career. Capability is demonstrated by skills, knowledge, and experience.
Review), 2013. Results are demonstrated by reputation, credibility, and performance.
Stephen Covey, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything 7 Bill George, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (San Francisco:
6
(New York: Free Press), 2006, p. 13. Jossey-Bass), 2007.
LEADERSHIP Vol. 20.1 Spring/Summer 2014 9

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