The 13 Behaviors of a High Trust Leader

Behaviors What to Say Opposite Counterfeit

Be honest. Tell the truth. Let people know Lie. Deceive. “Spinning,” positioning, posturing and
Talk Straight where you stand. manipulating.

Care for others and show it. Treat everyone Show disrespect Faking respect, showing respect for some
Demonstrate
with respect, especially those who can’t do or not care about but not all.
Respect anything for you. others.
CHARACTER

Tell the truth, be real, genuine, open and Hide, cover up, Having hidden agendas, withholding
Create
authentic. obscure things. information.
Transparency

Admit when you’re wrong, apologize quickly, Deny, justify or Cover up, disguise, hide mistakes until
Right Wrongs show humility, don’t let pride get in the way of rationalize wrongful forced to admit error.
doing the right thing. behavior.

Give credit to others, speak about people as
if they’re present and represent others who
Show Loyalty
aren’t there.
Establish a track record of getting the right
things done. Make things happen, on-time and
Deliver Results
within budget. As Yoda says, “Do or do not,
there is no try.”
Continuously improve. Increase your
Get Better capabilities. Be a constant learner. Don’t
consider yourself above feedback.
COMPETENCE
Take credit, betray Being gossipy and two-faced, appearing
others. to give credit when they’re present but
downplaying their contribution and taking
credit when they’re not around.
Overpromise and Delivering activities instead of results -
under-deliver. doing busywork without accomplishing
anything real.
Rest on your laurels, Learning but never producing, force-fitting
become irrelevant. things into what you’re good at.

Tackle all issues head-on, even the Ignore reality, be in Focus on side issues while skirting the real
Confront Reality “undiscussables.” Address the tough stuff denial. issues.
directly. Confront the reality, not the person.

Disclose, reveal and validate expectations. Leave expectations Guessing. Fail to pin down specifics for
Clarify
Don’t assume they’re clear or shared. unclear or meaningful accountability.
Expectations Renegotiate if needed/possible. undefined.

Hold yourself accountable first, others second. Not take Point fingers and blame others, fail to
Practice Take responsibility. Be clear on how you’ll responsibility. enforce consequences when expectations
Accountability communicate how you’re doing and how others aren’t met.
are doing. Don’t blame.
Listen before speaking. Understand, diagnose, Speak first and Listen just to formulate your response,
CHARACTER + COMPETENCE

Listen First listen with ears, eyes and heart. listen last or not pretend to listen.
listen at all.

Say what you’ll do, then do it. Make Break commitments, Make vague, elusive promises that can’t be
Keep
commitments carefully and keep them at all violate promises. pinned down.
Commitments costs. Don’t break confidences.

Extend trust abundantly to those who’ve Withhold trust. Extend false trust - giving responsibility
Extend Trust earned it, conditionally to those who are still without authority, then micromanage,
earning it. “snoopervise” and hover.