Trust is an important cornerstone for successful collaborations. I’ve written about this topic a few times in the past. In his book “Trusted Leader”, David Horsager takes the topic to a deeper level. He argues that the root issue for every challenge is always trust and that trust is your single, most valuable asset. As trust increases, output, morale, and innovation (amongst other things) improve, while costs, problems, risk and stress reduce.
For over 20 years David and his team at the Trust Edge Leadership Institute have been conducting research into the topic of trust. The findings of their research is published in The Trust Outlook™ and forms the foundation for the 8 Pillar methodology to establish and maintain trust.
The book “Trusted Leader” * is written as a business novel and takes you on a journey through the challenges that Ethan (the main character), faces in his business and with his team. As the CEO of a tech scale-up, Ethan is faced with all kinds of challenges, that of course appear at the wrong moment and threaten the future of his business. These challenges seem to have all different reasons related to their cause, but after peeling away the outer layers of each problem the root causes appear to be a trust issue. Throughout the book you will learn about the 8 Pillars of Trust based on Ethan’s challenges. In the second part of the book these 8 Pillars are further explained in a way that you can apply them yourself, hence 8 Pillars that will help you to be a Trusted Leader.
Reading about trust in the form of a business novel makes it easy to translate the examples to your own experiences and situation. I was, obviously, constantly bridging the readings to alliances, teamwork and other kinds of collaborations. That was an easy bridge, what is being described in “Trusted Leader” is, in essence, about collaboration.
The “Trusted Leader” * was one of my summer reads that provided me new insights on the important topic of trust and that I highly recommend you to read the book.
What have you been reading this summer that provided you with new insights for your work?
PS: View this 5 minute video to watch David Horsager give a quick overview of the 8 Pillars of Trust: