Home » Articles written by experts » Headline: Be the Leader Others Will Follow
Aug
08

TAA_R2_EDIT-CS3

 

 

Late last year Trust Across America-Trust Around the World  published the first in a planned series of award-winning books.  TRUST INC., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset brings together the wisdom of 32 experts. Six months later we released our second book, Trust Inc. A Guide for Boards & C-SuitesIn this book, sixty experts have joined forces to offer 100 strategies.

Throughout the month of August, we will be featuring 31 essays from our second book. Each stands alone as an excellent resource in guiding Boards and C-Suites on driving a trust agenda at the highest level in the organization, and provides tools for those who choose to implement trust-building programs in their organization.

This eighth essay in our series brings pearls of wisdom from  Davis Young, a public relations counselor and author of Trust is the Tiebreaker In collaboration with client Revco Drug Stores, he received the best of Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America for the single finest program of the year nationally.

Headline: Be the Leader Others Will Follow

Leaders of organizations are role models – either good or bad.

If they cut corners, their people will cut corners.

If they wink at bad practices, their managers will wink, too.

If they verbally abuse colleagues, others will follow their lead.

If they focus only on today and ignore tomorrow, associates will do the same.

If they think public relations is some sort of game to “spin” information, they will encourage others to be less than truthful.

If they do any or all of these things, they will detract from respect and therefore their ability to lead.

Make sure your personal brand stands for something. To do that, ask yourself these questions. Here’s a short list to start.

Do I always make decisions based on what’s best for the company?

Am I consistent and even-handed?

Am I clear and direct in interactions with associates?

Am I fair-minded?

Do I hold myself to the same high standards I set for others?

Do I listen well?

Would I rather be liked or respected?

Am I a good role model?        

Personal brand building starts with the right answers to those questions. If you really want to lead, take those questions seriously.When leaders pay attention to their personal brands, organizations have a much better chance to flourish. Trust in leadership builds when actions are consistent with words.

 I hope you have enjoyed this next sneak peak into our second book. If this brief look behind the door has been helpful, follow this link to order both of our books online.
And for those who want to catch up on the series, a quick reference on what’s been covered so far this month:

August 1: There’s a Reason Why We Call Them Trustees explains why being an “absentee landlord” doesn’t work.

August 2: Kill the Evening Before Dinner and take a small group of front line employees to dinner instead.

August 3: In Head of Business- Hope for the World we introduce the Winston “V” Model.

August 4: Reputation vs. Trust and why leaders should care more about the latter.

August 5: C-Suite Must Speak With a V.O.I.C.E. of Trust, a new communications model

August 6: It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way You Do It) discusses an organization’s core values and traits

August 7: Superficial CEOs and Their Boards talks about the fiduciary responsibility of board members.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.

PrintND Trust CEO cvr 140602-ft

Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

, , , , , , , , , , ,

One Response to “Headline: Be the Leader Others Will Follow”

  1. August 10th, 2014 at 14:32 | #1

    What wonderful, clear advice. Thank you, Davis.

Add reply