Latest / Daily Influence / 737. Trust Is a Lagging Indicator: Why Leadership Patterns Matter More Than Promises
Transcript
- 0:10[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
- 0:14[SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
- 0:19[SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
- 0:27[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Kleeneau, partner at IA Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
- 0:32[SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
- 0:39[SPEAKER_00]: And make us part of your daily routine, whether it's during your commute on a walk or an quiet moment just for you, because you're influenced matters.
- 0:48[SPEAKER_01]: Hey everybody, Brian Smith here with the IA team series and your Daily Influence.
- 0:53[SPEAKER_01]: And today I'm gonna talk about something
- 0:57[SPEAKER_01]: really misunderstand and that's trust.
- 1:00[SPEAKER_01]: More specifically, the reality that trust is not created by what we say today.
- 1:06[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is actually a lagging indicator.
- 1:10[SPEAKER_01]: It is result of behaviors, actions, consistency, communication, accountability, and leadership patterns that have already happened over time.
- 1:20[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of organizations talk about trust as though it is something
- 1:23[SPEAKER_01]: they can simply ask for, announce or even demand.
- 1:27[SPEAKER_01]: The people that out trust words merely as much as they trust patterns, teams trust what they repeatedly experience.
- 1:35[SPEAKER_01]: Clients trust what they consistently receive.
- 1:39[SPEAKER_01]: Families trust, but they repeatedly observe.
- 1:43[SPEAKER_01]: And this becomes incredibly important inside smart management and smart communication, because trust is not emotional alone.
- 1:52[SPEAKER_01]: It's operational, and it is measurable on behavior, discipline, response of mis-consistency, and accountability.
- 2:00[SPEAKER_01]: So if you want stronger trust in your organization, your relationships or your leadership, you cannot focus only on perception.
- 2:08[SPEAKER_01]: You have to focus on the behaviors creating the perception.
- 2:13[SPEAKER_01]: So today, let's talk about why trust is a lagging indicator.
- 2:17[SPEAKER_01]: And what would cheer leaders understand
- 2:22[SPEAKER_01]: One of the biggest mistakes leaders make his believing trust comes from moments.
- 2:27[SPEAKER_01]: In reality, trust usually comes from patterns.
- 2:30[SPEAKER_01]: People often confuse emotional intensity with leadership effectiveness.
- 2:34[SPEAKER_01]: A passionate speech, a strong meaning, a big announcement or a motivational moment may create temporary excitement, but excitement is not trust.
- 2:45[SPEAKER_01]: Trust develops when people see consistency repeatedly over time.
- 2:52[SPEAKER_01]: Do you follow through?
- 2:53[SPEAKER_01]: Do you stay accountable under pressure?
- 2:57[SPEAKER_01]: Do your actions align with your message and do your main study when circumstances become difficult?
- 3:04[SPEAKER_01]: Inside smart management, consistency matters because people build emotional and operational confidence through predictability.
- 3:13[SPEAKER_01]: Teams do not become stronger because leadership has one good day.
- 3:17[SPEAKER_01]: Teams become stronger because they know what leadership will look like repeatedly over
- 3:22[SPEAKER_01]: This is why mature organizations create systems, communication rhythms, meeting structures, accountability cases, and operational standards or standard operating procedures.
- 3:35[SPEAKER_01]: Those structures reduce uncertainty and reinforce reliability.
- 3:40[SPEAKER_01]: Also sets proper expectation.
- 3:43[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is built when people stop wondering who they are going to get each day.
- 3:51[SPEAKER_01]: The someone says they care, but disappears during difficult moments, trust weekends.
- 3:56[SPEAKER_01]: If someone promises accountability, but avoids ownership when things go wrong, trust weekends.
- 4:03[SPEAKER_01]: Trust follows repeated alignment between words and behavior.
- 4:07[SPEAKER_01]: Another important reality about trust being a lagging indicator is that distress also builds slowly.
- 4:14[SPEAKER_01]: Most organizational breakdowns do not happen suddenly.
- 4:19[SPEAKER_01]: The visible collapse often happens late in the process.
- 4:22[SPEAKER_01]: The warning signs were usually there long before the failures.
- 4:26[SPEAKER_01]: Poor communication, avoided conversations, lack of accountability, misdexpectations, inconsistent leadership, emotional overreaction, silettes from disengaged team members.
- 4:40[SPEAKER_01]: These small moments accumulate over time.
- 4:43[SPEAKER_01]: Inside smart communication, we often discuss clarity.
- 4:47[SPEAKER_01]: transparency and timing because communication gaps create uncertainty and uncertainty almost always weakens trust.
- 4:57[SPEAKER_01]: People begin filling gaps with assumptions, assumptions become narratives, narratives can become culture.
- 5:05[SPEAKER_01]: Eventually leaders look around and wonder why morale dropped, why engagement weakened or why alignment disappeared.
- 5:13[SPEAKER_01]: But trust erosion rarely starts with one major event.
- 5:17[SPEAKER_01]: It usually starts with tolerated inconsistencies.
- 5:21[SPEAKER_01]: This is why strong leaders address small fractures early.
- 5:25[SPEAKER_01]: They don't ignore communication breakdowns.
- 5:28[SPEAKER_01]: They don't tolerate confusion indefinitely, and they surely do not allow accountability to become selective.
- 5:35[SPEAKER_01]: Smart leadership means understanding that culture is cumulative.
- 5:40[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is cumulative.
- 5:41[SPEAKER_01]: distrust is also cumulative.
- 5:44[SPEAKER_01]: What you repeatedly allow eventually becomes what people believe.
- 5:49[SPEAKER_01]: In the I&Tem series, we frequently talk about influence and responsibility.
- 5:55[SPEAKER_01]: Influence is always occurring, whether it's intentional or unintentional.
- 6:00[SPEAKER_01]: Every conversation influences.
- 6:02[SPEAKER_01]: Every decision influences.
- 6:04[SPEAKER_01]: Every reaction influences.
- 6:07[SPEAKER_01]: Every silence influences.
- 6:09[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is often the long term emotional result of responsible influence.
- 6:15[SPEAKER_01]: People trust leaders who create safety without creating weakness.
- 6:20[SPEAKER_01]: People trust leaders who remain calm without becoming passive.
- 6:24[SPEAKER_01]: People trust leaders who tell the truth even when the truth is uncomfortable.
- 6:29[SPEAKER_01]: People trust leaders who made difficult decisions responsibly rather than avoiding them emotionally.
- 6:35[SPEAKER_01]: This is why leaders shed maturity really matters.
- 6:38[SPEAKER_01]: Amateur leadership often seeks immediate approval.
- 6:42[SPEAKER_01]: Mature leadership focuses on long-term credibility.
- 6:47[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes, responsible leadership decisions are temporarily unpopular.
- 6:52[SPEAKER_01]: But if they are made transparently, ethically, consistently and responsibly, trust often grows over time because people recognize integrity in the process.
- 7:04[SPEAKER_01]: This is critical in business today,
- 7:06[SPEAKER_01]: Organizations often try to market trust, instead of operationally earning it.
- 7:11[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is not branding alone.
- 7:13[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is operational discipline, trust is communication discipline, trust is accountability discipline.
- 7:20[SPEAKER_01]: And when organizations align behavior with mission consistently over time, trust becomes stronger naturally, because people experience reliability firsthand.
- 7:32[SPEAKER_01]: As we close today, remember this, trust is not built in speeches,
- 7:36[SPEAKER_01]: not in slogans or promises, trust is built and repeated behavior over time.
- 7:42[SPEAKER_01]: Trust is a lagging indicator of leadership, discipline, communication, quality, accountability, emotional consistency, and responsible influence.
- 7:53[SPEAKER_01]: And if you want stronger trust in your business, your team, your family, or your leadership, stop asking, only how people feel about you today.
- 8:01[SPEAKER_01]: Ask what you repeated behaviors,
- 8:04[SPEAKER_01]: have taught them to expect from you over time.
- 8:08[SPEAKER_01]: It's a hard question, because trust is not created by intentional own, it is created by patterns.
- 8:15[SPEAKER_01]: And the strongest leaders understand that every interaction is either reinforcing confidence or weakening it.
- 8:22[SPEAKER_01]: I hope you enjoyed us today on daily influence in this topic, and all it's a difficult one.
- 8:28[SPEAKER_01]: Look at the mirror, cast the heart questions, and until next time, keep learning.
- 8:32[SPEAKER_01]: Keep growing and keep building your influence intentionally.
- 8:35[SPEAKER_01]: Have a great day.