The Bottom Line Can Never Be the Bottom Line
People who can’t say they don’t know can’t be trusted; they’re posturing. They’ll tell you what you want to hear rather than what they really think.
Fear drives lies. Fear of losing status, respect, or position motivates truth-shading. Don’t trust those who are always right; that includes excuse makers, blamers, and finger pointers.
Don’t trust anyone who expects you to always be right, either.
Care for posers but don’t trust them.
Three Fears:
I recently finished reading Lencioni’s book, “Getting Naked.” Pat says three fears prevent you from building trust and loyalty.
- Fear of losing the business.
- Fear of being embarrassed.
- Fear of feeling inferior.
Fear of losing business motivates you to put revenue first. Clients shouldn’t trust anyone who puts revenue first. The bottom line can never be the bottom line.
“What clients want more than anything is to know that we’re more interested in helping them than we are in maintaining our revenue source,” Lencioni.
When you’re willing to walk away, you can be let in. When you’re willing to say the hard things, you can be heard.
There’s a difference between fearing and liking. No one likes losing business. Few like saying what doesn’t want to be heard. I’m not talking about like. I’m talking about not letting fear motivate you.
Overcoming fear:
- Accept yourself. Pretending to know more than you know is stressful and self-destructive.
- Ask, “What’s the worst that could happen.” (That doesn’t always help.)
- Practice vulnerability. Vulnerability is central to Lencioni’s book, “Getting Naked.”
- Love others. Barclay defined love as, “Seeking another’s highest good.” Love trumps fear.
Honesty tip:
You can acknowledge you don’t know but demonstrate you can learn. It’s not necessary to make yourself look as dumb as possible. Passion to learn beats needing to knowing it all.
How can leaders overcome fear in order to build trust and loyalty?
**********
Don’t miss a single issue of Leadership Freak, subscribe today. It’s free. It’s private. It’s always practical and brief.
Go to the main page of Leadership Freak by clicking the banner at the top of this page, look in the right-hand navigation bar, enter your email and click subscribe. Your email address is always kept private. Note: if it doesn’t arrive, check your spam filter for a confirmation email.
Hi Dan timely post and obviously another book for the ever-growing reading list. I also loved Barclay’s quote on love. Giving your highest good to someone, there is no better way to demonstrate love. I appreciate all of your points and when you wrote about the fear of being inferior you jarred my memory and one of my favorite ladies came to mind. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” (Eleanor Roosevelt) As far as your question regarding how can leaders overcome fear to build trust and loyalty. I know it is simple but walk the talk and as I recently read somewhere “let the tongue in your mouth match the tongue in your shoe.” Being ourselves 100% of the time not just at work and treating everyone not just co-workers with the same yardstick will build your personal “brand.” It takes years to truly build your individual brand but consistency in action and perseverance in reaching higher will generate trust and loyalty especially when the height you’re reaching for is another’s. Cheers, 🙂 AD
Couple great quotes here – thank you. I agree with you that being genuine and authentic will go a long way.
Good insight! Fear driving lies is an interesting idea that I really haven’t thought of before. Thanks for the read and the heads up about this book.
There has to be somewhere in our lives where people know us intimately and love us anyway. If we have that, then it’s a lot easier to go to work and relinquish these fears. To me this just re-emphasizes the need for leaders to have strong relationships outside of work.Without them these vulnerabilities seem to risk everything.
Greg I totally agree with the need for strong relationships outside of work which is why I have my “circle” of trusted people who care enough about me to tell me everything: “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” That gives me a lot of confidence and encouragement when everyday I commute to my working “circle” where the V/M/V may be different but the intent hopefully is the same: For all of us to work together and help each other learn as we trek along the path we call life. 🙂 Thanks, Al