Trust: The Root of Leadership

Mal Fletcher Added 11 May 2005

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Over the past month, life in Britain has been overshadowed by media coverage of a general election.

Actually, 'saturation bombing' might be a better phrase to describe the level of hype surrounding this poll. You couldn't turn on a news broadcast or current affairs discussion without being confronted with the often tawdry world of British politics.

Of course, the European political scene is never quiet. There is always some battle or other going on. If it's not elections we're hearing about, it's in-party fighting, or the launch of new manifestos.

Whichever way you turn, you can't escape the long arm of politics.

H. G. Wells observed that, 'In our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics." All issues are political issues…'

Aristotle saw politics not just within society, but within human nature. He declared that, 'Man is by nature a political animal.'

We might certainly debate the 'animal' part of his description, but there may be some truth in the idea that we're inherently political. After all, politics does seem to find its way into all kinds of human group behaviour.

This may dismay some of us, who can only take so much talk about politics and politicians.

Yet there is one big lesson we can and should carry away from the recent elections in various parts of the world. It's this: the biggest issue in any election is not the economy, or education, or even employment - it is trust.

While politics has come to touch almost everything in our lives, the public is generally quite sceptical about civic and government leaders. That cynicism is in part fired by a deep sense of mistrust.

'All politicians make promises in their manifestos,' some people will tell you. 'But their promises are worth nothing after they're elected.'

Trust is the basis of all real influence. Whether we're building governments, businesses or families, there can be no leadership without trust.

Autocratic power may be a potent force for change, but it is short-lived. Autocrats are generally regarded with fear more than affection during their time at the top -- and with loathing once they are gone.

Power can be grasped, but true and lasting influence must be given. Influence comes with the establishment of trust. When people trust their leaders, there is openness, vulnerability, which is the currency of all social change.

What is the source of trust?

A few years ago, the renowned Christian evangelist Dr. Billy Graham was the subject of a LIFE magazine article. The writers of the feature piece noted that when people were drawn to Graham's ministry and campaigns, it was not his communication or organizational skills which held them.

The key to his success, they noted, was that people saw in him a mark of sincerity. On that basis, they allowed him to influence their thoughts and decisions.

The first key to establishing trust is sincerity. The word comes to us from the joining of two Greek words: 'sin' and 'cera', which put together mean 'without wax'.

In the golden days of Greek culture, expensive marble statues were not easily repaired. If someone accidentally knocked a chunk from a sculpture, the waxman went to work, moulding a lump of wax to match the missing piece of stone.

When the wax was coloured and dried, you couldn't tell the real from the fake - at least, not from a distance. It was only when you got close that you could see the flaw. 'Sin cera', without wax, equates to 'real up-close'.

Trust is also the by-product of character.

Our character is gauged by the quality of our decisions and responses under pressure. Will we do the right thing, the morally upright thing, when we're under pressure to do the opposite?

Mother Teresa spoke to a US presidential prayer breakfast in 1994. She looked out over a crowd of eminent political leaders and media figures and spoke out boldly against contraception and abortion. She also spoke for the poor.

One reporter present at the time said that by the end of the talk there was almost no-one she hadn't offended. Yet, when she concluded, the group rose as one to give her a lengthy ovation.

What were they applauding? It wasn't her conservative agenda: many of them disagreed with much of what she'd said.

They were affirming her right to hold the strong convictions she expressed. She had earned the right to be heard.

Her generous and selfless responses to all kinds of opposition revealed a strong character which matched her convictions.

In an age where celebrity is often elevated over real achievement, character is still attractive.

The creator and producer of the Star Trek TV shows and movies, Gene Rodenberry, was once asked why he thought his characters were so attractive and meaningful for so many people.

He answered that his characters were willing to lay down their lives for a cause they believed in, and, he added, there's a vacuum of that kind of leadership in our world today.

Influence is also built upon strong relationships - the greater our links with people, the more profound is our influence.

Strong relationships are nourished by encouragement. In a world that often seems intent on robbing people of their will to go on, encouragers literally give people back their courage.

The world is looking for leadership which will inspire people and call them boldly forward in a risky world.

Relationships are also strengthened by a service mentality. Not service as in, 'I'll do this service for you if you pay me for it.' No, service that says, 'I'll do what's best for you because you have value before God, and before me.'

People still want to trust.

We don't mind being led. But we're looking for leaders who will demonstrate that they're real up close. Leaders who are not afraid to make morally upright choices even when under pressure to do the opposite.

Most of all, we're looking for visionaries who know how to be servants.

© Mal Fletcher 2005



(The Future is X, the new book by Mal Fletcher, is now available in e-Book form.)