Why Leaders are Trusted

It can be easy to overlook the power of trust and the simple ways it is established. I was reminded of this by a recent post from Leadership Moments, a newsletter put out by Beth Flynn over at the Ohio State University Leadership Center. I am republishing a portion below. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, follow the link at the bottom. Enjoy.

  

"General Dwight David Eisenhower did the impossible.  No, not the successful and history-changing D-Day landing per se.  Nor the subsequent march to Germany.  His "impossible dream" - come true - was to keep the Yanks and Brits from annihilating each other long enough to hit the beach and get on with the real job at hand!

Turns out General Eisenhower, most keen professional observers agree, had a "secret," which he in fact understood:

"Allied commands depend on mutual confidence, this confidence is gained, above all, through the development of friendships."

Armchair General magazine (May 2008) traces the origins of this most pronounced of Eisenhower's leadership traits: "Perhaps his most outstanding ability [at West Point, decades before D-Day] was the ease with which he made friends and earned the trust of fellow cadets who came from widely varied backgrounds; it was a quality that would pay great dividends during his future coalition command (Peters, p. 95)."

From: Peters, T. (2010).  The little big things: 163 ways to pursue excellence.  New York: Harper Studio

OSU Leadership Center
http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu