This sense of fairness, critical to the creation of a safe environment, can be reinforced not only by complimenting fair practices but also by privately speaking to—or if necessary, censuring—subordinates who behave unfairly to others in the organization.
8. Don’t take shortcuts. Every organization wants to succeed. That’s why, inevitably, there is a constant pressure to let the end justify the means. This pressure becomes especially acute when either victory or failure is in immediate sight. That’s when the usual ethical and moral constraints are sometimes abandoned—always for good reasons, and always “just this once”—in the name of expediency.
When employees see you breaking the “code” of organizational honor and integrity to which your company is supposed to adhere, they lose trust in you.
9. Separate the bad apples from the apples who just need a little direction. As a leader, you have to recognize that you are not going to be able to “fix” a thief, a pathological liar or a professional con artist—all of these people must go, immediately.
But one huge mistake leaders make is to doubt or distrust people because their work or performance disappoints them. Performance problems should be managed fairly and with little judgment of the person’s underlying character, unless that is the root of the trouble
10. Make wrong choices as rarely as possible. But, if you do, admit them quickly, completely and with humility, fix them as quickly as you can, and make full recompense when you cannot.
Trust is the most powerful, and most fragile, asset in an organization, and it is almost exclusively created, or hampered, by the actions of the senior leader on the team.
A working environment of trust is a place where teams stay focused, give their utmost effort, and in the end, do their best work.
John Hamm is one of the top leadership experts in Silicon Valley. He has been a CEO, a board member at over 30 companies, and a CEO adviser and executive coach to senior leaders at dozens of companies. Hamm teaches leadership at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University and has written a book called “Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership,” from which this article is excerpted.
