Trust

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Salaam and Greetings All,

Hope this message gets to you well.

Covey believes, the speed of the business is in tandem with the speed of trust is developed.

My previous article talks about Walking the Talk, or better yet, just Walk the Walk. I truly believe, Walk the Walk, or Walk the Walk is a major step towars building trust.

A friend highlighted that if we walk too much, our employees tend to be too dependent on us. I agree with him. Especially if we are talking about walking to help them do their jobs. Or worse, actually do their jobs. I am not talking about this. I am talking about providing support. Being there for them. Giving a word or two, to motivate them. To inspire them. To guide them back if they have gone astray. To set an example for them to emulate, like punctuality, honesty, transparency, integrity, well groomed, clean, "do as I do", you get the idea.

I am sure you have experienced the type of bosses who reprimands you for being late. Yet, she comes in late practically everyday to work, or even for meetings. Their response it, he is the CEO, or the Boss, etc.

Or the boss who takes advantage of his position for personal gains, yet, strikes the hammer hard, if an employee prints a page of personal email using the office printer.

This is what I mean by walk the talk, or walk the walk.

The discrepancies between what is said and what is done, even perceived, will create distrust. This lack of trust will hurt the organization, than most bosses want to admit.

Yet, the irony of of it all is that, though the bosses know it (the Head), the bosses don't do it (the Hand), simply because it doen't come from their Heart. They just don't believe what they say. And that is sad.

If you are in a position of authority in you organization, make that change in your self. Be the boss that you want to follow, you admire, the one that inspires you.

If you are not in a position of authority, behave like a leader. Walk the Talk, or just Walk the Walk.

I remembered back in 1991, I was transfered to another training center in Port Dickson. The Commandant back then was Colonel Md Hashim bin Hussein, who eventually became the first Commander for our troops in Bosnia, then later, Chief of the Army and finally the Ambassador to Pakistan. I remembered when I stood in front of him on the day I reported, he told me these simple truths; "If you want more, do more, become more". What it means is that, if I want to be promoted, I must behave like the rank I want to be, and do as much as those in that rank. Similarly, if I want to be a leader, do it now. To him, if you don't start now, you will never get there.

I still hold that lesson till today.

So, be the leader you want to follow, the one that inspires you. Today.

Thank you Sir, for that lesson more than two decades ago.

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