Preparing for the What If – Trust and Leadership

As a business owner, you expect turnover. You plan for it. You strategize to keep the most successful employees and encourage the departure of those who are ill-fitting for whatever reason. But what happens when a leader who is key to your succession plan decides to leave?

We were all forced to interact with the people at home during the pandemic, perhaps more than we had in years. It changed some executives to the extent that they quit their career track and moved on to something else. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, 4 million people left their jobs as of July. This astonishing number is down from an even higher peak in April. A recent Harvard Business Review article reported that resignations rose more significantly among 30 to 45-year-old rising executives. That’s the prime age leaders look to for candidates in their succession planning.

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TRUST AND WORKPLACE CULTURE

The good news is that the answer to keeping your workplace culture healthy isn’t new. It all comes down to trust. Yes, as a leader, you need to be trustworthy. But you also need to trust yourself and trust in others – especially with remote work as part of the ongoing dynamic. Perhaps your leadership style was always to be involved in everything, maybe it relies on reports from your management team, or perhaps you serve as more of a visionary. But, inevitably, the past year-and-a-half has impacted your culture and how trust is conveyed, regardless of how you lead.

The Trust Model

The fundamentals of trust in leadership remain the same. Be transparent, encourage and model collaboration, and prioritize healthy communication (including conflict). Effectively empower your employees to perform by allowing them to take ownership and be accountable for their role in the business you are building together.

If a key player does decide to leave your company, a strong sense of trust in your business culture allows you to send them off with faith that they will have your back in the marketplace. You will also, more likely than not, have other leaders at the different levels of your firm primed to fill the void.

“A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts.”  — Harold MacMillan

Cultivating a culture of trust isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. Talking to a professional or leveraging a facilitator can make any transition smoother and more successful. Liddell Consulting Group can objectively evaluate the level of trust within your organization and identify the pros and cons of your leadership style. We want to work with you to help identify what may be holding your company back from higher levels of success. Contact us today!

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