JANUARY 17 • TRUE LEADERSHIP
Honesty
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. Proverbs 12:22
The number one thing a staff wants from their leaders is honesty. Honesty is the backbone of all relationships. From a personality perspective, 35% of us need to trust before we can love (and 65% of us need to love before we trust). If I cannot trust you, that puts a huge barrier in the way of our relationship and working together. If I don’t feel you have my best interest at heart, it will affect my work and the outcome of the organization.
Every aspect of an organization should get similar treatment. You treat your clients/customers well, and your vendors, your staff/team, your leaders. Don’t sacrifice one for another. Just because we give someone a job doesn’t mean we own them or can sacrifice them on the alter of the organization. Therefore, we have a need to be honest with everyone — and to help people have vision and understand the truth behind what our mission is and where we are going.
If you withhold information, if you are not honest/candid with everyone, if you hide problems, if you make changes without letting people know, you are being dishonest. Sure, you may need some time to think through an issue (process), but too much time can become an issue of honesty and integrity. Not living up to promises made is also dishonest — even if it’s out of your control. Do not make promises and then not deal with changes in a timely fashion. Don’t let your leaders do it either (lead up!). If leadership is failing you so that you cannot live up to promises, let leadership know right away. Every level of leadership has the responsibility to deal with an issue. You need to know your people deeply, what their needs and desires are, so you can ensure you are giving them the candor they need to be successful; otherwise, they are not really a part of the team — they are being treated as a thing instead of a people. If you cannot run your part of the organization with total candor and honesty, you, leadership, and/or the organization needs to change. Trust the truth!
Pray: Lord, give me the wisdom to know how to be honest and candid with everyone in the organization and life — including business partners (vendors)!
Go to the List of Blogs here…