Self-Orientation

Trust is an essential ingredient of leadership. Without it, your leadership ambitions cannot be realized. The equation for building trust is simple: credibility + reliability + intimacy divided by self-orientation. Understanding the power of each of these variables is as easy as thinking about the type of people who have yet to master one of the factors.  

Self-orientation is the most powerful variable in the trust equation. It can undermine and overwhelm all the variables found in the numerator. Your positive leadership attributes will be wasted if people believe that you only care about yourself. As a leader, we must remember that we are there to serve others.

Think about people you know that have all the numerator variables working but you question their motives. The self-absorbed individual will never be fully trusted and cannot expect to be an influential leader. Successful professionals all have some level of ego. Keeping it in check and maintaining a focus on others and their needs is the key to building trust.  

The trust equation is a powerful leadership tool. Study it and work on your weakest variable to build a solid foundation for trust-based relationships.