Who do you trust?
Everyone talks about trust. Many people tell you to trust them because they are experienced or they hold the qualifications or they have the expertise. But who do you trust?
BUT trust is something you feel in your gut. Trust is something that happens or is destroyed by your experience of the situation.
Trust Sites
There are many trust sites-places that say this person or this deal is protected by some form of security.
But should we trust the trust sites?
Do you trust other people’s recommendations? Maybe recommendations help you make decisions but do you really trust them?
Or are you looking for the “red’s under the bed” as we used to say years ago.
Many people, because of their experience, trust no one. They see everyone out to rip them off. Everyone is out to destroy them or hurt them. And because that is what they think, they are absolutely right.
Would you allow a reference to stand that said you were incompetent? Maybe if the recommendation then said you fixed the job.
But we want others to see us in the best light. We only want to tell the world that we did good, not that sometimes we messed up and because of that we made mistakes. And when we made a mistake how did we handle it – blame, fix, refund or what exactly?
If you show me a perfect person, I will show you either God or someone who does NOTHING.
And someone who does nothing, why would we trust?
So who do you trust?
Politicians? Sales people? Your minister, preacher, teacher, doctor?
Yourself?
Your family? Your friends?
Everyone who you think is smarter than you? Everyone who you think knows more than you do? Everyone who you like?
Trust is subjective. Trust depends on many variables.
Small agreements
Many years ago, I learned the concept of small agreements. Trusting people who did the little things – arrived on time, kept their word, delivered on their commitments, put the toilet seat down, the cap on the toothpaste. People who intentionally acted in ways that did not stress me or annoy me. People who thought of me too when they acted.
Trust me. I always…
Well always is seldom possible. Always depends on too many external factors.
So in God we trust:
- - even when Sandi floods the basement,
- Katrina washes away the levies and wipes out our house,
- the earth quakes in Christchurch and liquifaction swamps the streets and your home,
- the ash of the volcano in Iceland grounds the planes for six days and you are unable to get home or away
- the tsunami in Japan, wipes out your cottage in Hawaii
- and so on…
Trust that this is the only moment you have. Trust that if you listen in your heart and gut you know the truth about the situation. And trust that this too shall pass so all you can ever do is your best. You can only keep your word and be the best you and be.
And then trust that this too shall pass.
In the comment, share what you trust? How do you trust others? And why should anyone trust you?
To your future
Roberta Budvietas
Power, Leadership and Getting the Job done
Leaders need followers. But do the followers need leaders?
What is it that leaders offer their followers?
There are leaders who blaze a path to make it easier for followers to get to a destination.
But there are also people who want to be leaders so that they can have the power. Usually the power they want is to get things done or to make a difference but sometimes, they want the positional power for the glory and honor that it brings.
Identifying a Leader:
- A person with vision who wants to solve a problem or make a difference to a specific situation
- A person who has the passion and ability to enroll others to make a difference
- A person who wants more for others than for themselves.
Image via Wikipedia
What is Power
- There is power that gets jobs done.
- There is power that gives energy to other things to get things done.
- And there is power that makes others obey or submit to the will of another. This is often seen as power over others.
While there are other types of power, the last one causes more people challenges. There are many stories of how people submitted to evil people and did unmentionable things. Sometimes the person they submit to is called a bully, sometimes they are called a tyrant or a monster.
But the purpose of the power is to get something either done or done for them.
We want to believe that leaders are always good and that good leaders will take care of us. We put people into positions where the power they wield allows them to push boundaries and limits to get the job done. But history teaches us that there are lots of leaders who abuse others, torture. maim and kill any who disagree with them. There are corporate leaders who rule by terror.
Recently articles and books suggest that managers get the job done and leaders take people on a journey. Somehow the people are self motivated to get the job done because they either love or fear the leader.
Is this true?
Do people follow out of love or fear?
Do leaders cajole, push or cause to happen the things that get the job done?
Do leaders use devotion and suggest that a certain behavior or action would please them or do they use force to say that if you trust me you will act in a certain way?
Keep in mind that the leader makes the decisions. The leader after consulting, listening and paying attention, decides what happens next.
We believe that the leader knows best and we accept that the leader must be right. And is easier for many people to just accept that “rightness”
Power over is something that means control of others. When we see it in certain situations, we believe it is bad, like a mother keeping her son in a closet or a man brutalizing a girl for years in his basement, but what about a boss whose standards keep people working 60 to 70 hour weeks in crowded conditions?
And what about decisions voted on without thought because the “leader” says to vote this way or that and you never consider alternates because if you did then you would have to do something different.
You as a Leader
When you find yourself in a leadership position, consider what you do to get the job done. And every leader I have ever known, read and studied, always had a job to do whether it was win a war (Churchill), free a nation (Ghandi) or just win an election (Obama) to stop a war.
Watch how the power affects you.
Do you feel invincible or do you realize the responsibility you hold and have?
Do you recognize that there will be followers who merely follow you because it is easier to follow than think?
Will you keep aware and inform your followers of all sides about your reasons for the decisions you make?
Or will you use your power to quickly get the job done and walk away?
Remember as the owner of a business, you are the leader of that business.
What you say within the business is what will happen because your staff, followers, want to keep their job. Getting the job done will be the result of the power of leadership within your company.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
Roberta Budvietas
Passionate, Purposeful Performer.
Building Teams- A Warning about..
The effects of Peer pressure.
Image via Wikipedia
One idea for team building is Forming, Storming and Norming.
Hire right, induct and train and you will then have a team that works well.
The warning – Norming can destroy the business.
Norming may create a wonderful team because everyone shares and know what to expect of each other but often a team that is working well is working at half strength.
Think about what peer pressure is.
Peer pressure occurs in a team because the team sets the behavioral standards for the individual team members.
Peer pressure, peer values can be used for good or bad. When peer pressure encourages striving for the best and pushing people along, then the business can grow.
When peer pressure is all about doing the right thing, being fair, being correct then ensure that right is defined clearly and reviewed regularly. The danger here is that the embedded thinking becomes “that’s not how we do it here”.
As the business owner, your challenge is to ensure that the teem grows together and that they stay on purpose to grow the business. When you hire people who share your purpose and values, this happens more often.
But we sometimes inherit teams and sometimes we get fooled by people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. In other words what they say is not what they do and while induction and training help to change their mind, the laws in many countries together with the company culture make it difficult to correct our hiring mistakes.
How can you keep the norming from stifling a company. Here are a few suggestions:
Regular storming sessions to solve problems.
Regular get togethers without alcohol to catch up with what is happening with buyers.
Regular client social events where the team that are not face to face with the clients can get to meet the clients.
Building teams is more than a one-off activity. To build the team that builds your business is an on-going activity. One that you plan just as you plan your promotional campaigns. You need to keep your team working to purpose.
Form your team but keep them focused, committed and on purpose if you want your business to keep growing.
Roberta
Simplifier, Presenter, Mentor
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Guest Blogging with Jon Morrow
