What did I find out? I was able to bring to light that there was no trust in existence in the company. The leadership did not trust those under them and those under did not trust those above them. As an effect of this, they could not work as a team. And because they could not work as a team, they ended up not being able to make their vision work as a company. Eventually, I designed a customized training solution for them. They worked it out in shoe-leather. And because they worked it out in shoe leather, it helped them to climb out of the bed of crisis they found themselves as a company. In the end, the company that was lifeless ultimately came back to life!
In Africa, especially my beautiful country, Nigeria, leaders do want their followers to trust them, but they rarely trust their followers. When a leader rises to say openly: “I trust no one here!”, but comes the following day to say: “everyone here should trust me.” The truth is if you will not trust them, you can never have their trust, too. To create an atmosphere of trust in an organization, the man or woman calling the shots will need to pioneer it. Please, understand that I am not saying that a leader should trust everyone blindly, but you need to understand that your leadership will be lifeless on the condition that you do not trust those within your sphere of influence.
Do not attempt to lead those you cannot trust! To effectively lead a people, you’d need to first of all trust them. And whatever you cannot give in leadership, kindly do not expect to receive it. When you give trust to those within your sphere of influence, you’d definitely receive it back from them. Remember, to be a great leader in this century, you will need to learn how to trust those within your sphere of influence, because if you do not trust them, you will not be able to delegate anything to them and on the condition that you do not delegate tasks to them, you will not be able to achieve much in leadership.
Also, nothing or no one grows in an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion. Wherever you see these two vices, run as far as your legs can carry you. The truth is; no matter how beautiful the place looks on the outside, if the atmosphere is that of distrust and suspicion—you can never grow there emotionally, financially and spiritually! You can only grow in an atmosphere of love and trust.
Have you discovered lately that you are not growing emotionally, spiritually and financially? Maybe the reason is because you are part of an organization that is devoid of either both love and trust or maybe the relationships you are keeping with folks are filled with distrust and suspicion. The issue I am sharing with you today is a very crucial one—that is debarring a lot of people from moving forward in life.
Many leaders today do not empower their followers by sharing power with them because of lack of trust. You cannot build a powerful team without sharing power with those within your sphere of influence. Great leaders do not hoard power as PMS, they share it. The question is, as a leader, are you hoarding power or empowering people by sharing power with them? To raise leaders, you will need to empower your people by sharing power with them, and to do this, you’d need to first of all trust them.
As I begin to coast home today, I want you to know that trust is a relationship established between a trustor and trustee. For trust to take place there must be a trustor and a trustee. Remember, it takes two to tango, and two to trust. One, the role of the trustor is to take risks. Two, the role of the trustee is to be trustworthy. When each is good enough at their roles, a state of trust results, but if either party falls down on the job, trust will disappear.
What obliterates trust? Trust will be destroyed when either the trustor or trustee consistently fails to walk the talk. When a leader consistently says what he or she isn’t going to do, then trust will evaporate and fade away, and the relationship will die naturally. Remember, the blood of leadership (relationship) is trust. When trust is taken out of leadership (relationship), leadership (relationship) will give up the ghost.
Over the years, I have seen a lot of employees resign because of lack of trust. I have seen workers being falsely accused because of lack of trust. I have seen beautiful marriages crumble because of lack of trust. I have seen mentees and mentors call their relationships quit because of lack of trust. No relationship is going to survive when trust is no longer present in it.
Lastly, what is the difference between our amiable late President Musa Yar’ Adua and President Muhammadu Buhari? The first did not hand-over power to his deputy when he was leaving Nigeria for major medical checks, but the latter passed on the baton of power to his deputy when he was leaving for London for medical checks. The question is: why did the latter hand over power to his deputy while the former left without handing over power? Buhari was able to do that because of his trust in Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. And as a nation, we have been able to avoid power vacuum as we did experience in the days of late Musa Yar’Adua. Remember, no one passes on the baton of power to his deputy without trusting him. A lack of trust in the corridors of power does not build; it actually does destroy the nations of the earth.
See you where great leaders are found.
and then