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Welcome to the no Bullshit Leadership Podcast. In a world where knowledge has become a commodity, this podcast is designed to give you something more access to the experience of a successful CEO who has already walked the path. So join your host, Martin Moore, who will unlock and bring to life your own leadership experiences and accelerate your journey to leadership excellence.
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Welcome to Moments with Marty, your short, sharp shot of leadership insight to help you to stay on track between our weekly episodes of the no Bullshit Leadership Podcast. Leaders who can build trust quickly have a distinct advantage over leaders who can't if your people don't trust you, they'll spend a lot of time and energy just trying to interpret your words and to predict how you react in any given situation. But if they do trust you, they'll feel relaxed enough to just get on with it and focus on delivering outcomes. The same goes for the leaders above you. If they trust you, they'll give you a huge amount of autonomy and freedom. Building trust doesn't have to take a long time I once had an underperforming executive whose excuse for the fact that they weren't hitting their marks was that the team didn't trust her. She'd been in the role for almost nine months and said to me, the team doesn't trust me yet, but I'm working on it. I asked how long she thought it would take to earn their trust. She thought it'd probably be about 12 to 18 months. So I guess she was a little surprised when I said, if they don't trust you by now, they never will. We parted ways soon after that conversation. When I think about building trust quickly, there's no better example than the trust relationship between a CEO and their board. In most businesses, the directors have very little interaction with the CEO. They only see the executive team in a limited range of situations. They spend almost no time in the business and in some cases they aren't even that familiar with the industry. The board only has one line of defence to prevent them from being blindsided by a disaster. A CEO who they can trust implicitly. Someone who is completely open and transparent, who doesn't cover up mistakes and problems, who doesn't present the business through rose coloured glasses and who isn't afraid to deliver bad news without the sugar coating. The board operates in what I like to call the strobe light effect. The business is constantly in motion, but the board only sees a brief image, a snapshot of the business at a point in time. Usually at the monthly board meeting, they only see you infrequently and form an impression based on that. So every interaction is critical. The $64,000 question is, if you were the CEO, how would you go about building trust quickly with your board? Now, whether you're the CEO, building a relationship with the board or a first time leader trying to give your boss the confidence that they can trust you to deliver, these six principles are universal. Principle number one Be open and tell the truth. You've got to be able to look the directors in the eye and let them feel your unimpeachable integrity. Number two Give them insight and help them to interpret the information you present. You've got to be mindful of the board's limited access and give them confidence that they're getting accurate, timely information that they can rely upon. Principle number three Give them a window into your thinking. Be clear about your values and your focus. Let them know what's important to you, what you'll do and what you won't do. Principle number four Demonstrate your priorities. Company first, then team, then self. If the board senses rampant self interest, they'll always be suspicious of your decisions. Principle number five Take accountability for the business in every possible way. Show them that you willingly accept ownership of everything in your remit. No excuses and no deflection. Set ambitious targets and stretch the team to meet them. And finally, Principle number six Push back respectfully. Don't just say yes to anything the board wants. Make sure you push back when necessary and engage them in robust debate if you disagree with the direction they're giving you. This builds enormous trust. With such limited time and opportunity, everything you do has to build the board's confidence and trust in you. These principles are your roadmap to building trust quickly with your boss. Whatever level you're at, you'd be amazed at how much more you can do when your higher ups trust you. For more depth on this insight, make sure you take 15 minutes to listen to episode 54 of the no Bullshit Leadership podcast, Managing the Board. We'll leave a link in the show. Notes I really hope you enjoyed this moment and that it gives you that extra little spark to be a no Bullshit.