Developing competence as a leader is a hidden facet of the Cornerstone of Trust. Competence is the result of continuous, daily improvement and learning. New Lieutenants in the military are often the subject of much ridicule. They received lots of education on leadership yet lack practical leadership experience. These new leaders often make book smart, life stupid decisions. Like a toddler learning to walk, new leaders watched others, but learning to balance and move requires stepping outside your traditional supports. However, both Lieutenants and toddlers learn how to successful balance through weeks and months of practice. They have become competent and trustworthy. There are five areas all leaders can work on to become and remain competent leaders and improve their trustworthiness.

Self-discipline

Self-discipline requires individuals to identify actions and practice that help them succeed. Discipline requires regularly executing those actions without prompting from others. World-class athletes have coaches. Only the athlete can actually complete the work. In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey talks about self-discipline as sharpening the saw. These are habits of successful people practiced regularly. For example, you probably know reading helps you learn. Only you can make yourself select something to read and then pick up that reading every day.

The routines of trustworthy people are different. Every routine has common attributes. An example of daily activities may include a few minutes of stretching in the morning followed by some reading, On the way to work, you might listen a reading from scripture and meditate for a few minutes before entering the office. You might seek at least one opportunity to express gratitude to build relationships. These things seem simple and small. They are effective.

Life-long Learning

Being a life-long learner involves more than reading a page or two from a novel daily. In the 1960s, Gordon Moore proposed that the every two years, the number of transistors on a given medium would double and that the price for this increased productivity would fall by 50%. At that time, computers were very basic. Now, almost 60 years later, there are 32,000 more changes per cycle compared to 2 in 1965. The Mad Hatter said something like “We must run Alice as fast as we can just to keep up. If we want to get ahead, we have to run even faster!” There are a variety of ways to keep up with the changing pace of the world.

The most familiar method of learning is formal education from an educational facility such as a college or organizational professional development program. There was a time a liberal studies degree was valued because you learned to think rather than about anything in particular. Companies are filling the gap with professional development programs so their employees remain current.

Conferences offer the dual benefit of keeping up with changes in your field and provide opportunities to increase your professional network. With good notes, the knowledge remains with you. Become a member of an association related to your work. Professional associations provide opportunities for continued learning by offering information in periodicals, conferences, website discussion boards, and other means.

Know Systems & Processes

Technical knowledge provides you expert power you can use to influence others. However, this power dwindles as you move up and away from the processes. As a front-line leader over the warehouse movement section, knowing all the details of the System 2100 Conveyor Belt is very helpful. Once you become the sift supervisor for the whole warehouse, that knowledge is less important. Becoming the expert in the systems and processes for your level ensures you are trusted by those you lead and follow.

As you rise closer to the top of the organization, understanding the business model and business principals increases in importance. Learn to read financial reports. Understand how your organization processes accounts payable and receivable. Understanding the business process help increase trust with vendors and clients.

Initiative

Taking initiative is a great way to establish trust. If your are a leader and understand your organization’s mission, there is no need to wait for instructions. Go out and identify problems. Develop a means of solving those problems. Within your authority, implement those solutions. Doing so improves trust with your boss. Having meaningful work motivates your followers and solving problems is one way to provide them meaningful work.

Influencing and Developing Others

You are not a leader if you lack the ability to influence others. Good leaders are measured by the number of other leaders they develop. In order for you to do accomplish either, you need to be trustworthy. You become a trustworthy influencer and developer of others by building your team, valuing results and relationships, how you approach conflict, and creating a culture of service.

Teams are central to accomplishing group work. There is lots of research surrounding how effective teams are built. If you do not learn to build a team, you are a doer, not a leader. Building teams is an important leadership task that builds trust. In this model, team building has its own facet covered in the next installment.

Relationships are critical for building leadership trust. While relationships are important for leaders, so are results. One of the most important balancing acts leaders perform is that between results and relationships. Organizational leaders must achieve results. However, relationships are required to achieve results.

Conflict in teams in inevitable. It is a sign people are thinking independently. Good leaders encourage conflict in a respectful fashion that builds trust. Professionals disagree about things. Because they are professionals, they disagree in ways that demonstrates respect and builds trust. Trust helps people find the middle ground and ease tension over disagreements. Leaders help those struggling to agree find mutual points of agreement and build from there.

Demonstrating a service mindset creates trust by showing others you value others, their ideas, and the work they do. Service leadership is not slave leadership. As a servant leader, you build trust by creating circumstances that ensure team members have everything they need to excel and succeed. When they do, you bask in the reflected spotlight of their glory. Servant leaders build trust by showing off the positive performance of others. As a result, people are willing to do more because they come to trust the leader will give them all the credit they deserve for a job well done.

Demonstrating competence is an important element in developing trust. As a leader, you show competence beyond the technical skills to to a specific task. You demonstrate the skills necessary to lead others and improve trust in your team and for your team. Leader build trust in their competence by. Being self-disciplined, continually learning, knowing and understanding systems and processes in the organization, taking initiative, and influencing and developing others through ethical means. Competence as a leader goes beyond knowing the torque specifications for lug nuts, or which section of a military regulation governs VIP visits. Competence as a leader means you understand people, the jobs they do, and how to set up the environment so they can achieve the results necessary to succeed and receive the recognition they deserve. Competence is not about being in the spotlight; it is about knowing how to shine the spotlight on the good work of others.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Carroll, L (1865) Alice’s adventures in wonderland. MacMillan Publishers LTD, London, UK.

Covey, S. (2013) 7 Habits of highly effective people. 25th Anniversary Ed. Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, NY

Covey, S. & Merrill R. (2018) The speed of trust. Free Press. New York, NY

Hunter, J. (2013) The servant leadership training course. Sounds True. United Kingdom. Audio Book

Intel (nd) Fueling innovation we love and depend on Intel Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/silicon-innovations/moores-law-technology.html March 28, 2022.

(c) 2022 Christopher St. Cyr