Blog #7 - Leadership Connectors: Trust

In Chapter 6 of Leadership Connectors, we learn about important, yet how fragile trust is. It can take years to build and only seconds to be destroyed. A healthy work environment builds and sustains trust. I like how the authors connected trust to the previous five Leadership Connectors. In order for trust to exist, all of the other connectors must be in place. Trust is needed to develop strong and meaningful relationships in any type of organization. This chapter opens with the concept of “respecting versus liking.” It affirmed my belief that all people should be treated with dignity and respect. In fact, I frequently remind my students of this and emphasize the concepts of dignity and respect. We don’t have to be best friends with everybody, but we must value their worth as a human being and accept their differences. This is a good reminder that although some colleagues may get on our nerves, we still need to respect them for who they are.

Honesty is another concept I emphasize with my students. I make it known that students are not perfect and neither is their teacher. We will all make mistakes along the way, but we must acknowledge our mistakes, learn from them, and not repeat them. I specifically liked the example of Mary, a second-year principal, and her experience with selecting an assembly for her middle school. Mary made a huge mistake! Instead of making excuses, she was honest with her staff, apologized to them, and asked for their forgiveness. This showed her vulnerability and that she was human. Although her staff was upset, they quickly forgave her and moved on.

One last concept that stood out to me was betrayal and perceived betrayal. The author’s mentioned that both had the same consequences. When either of the two occurs, suspicion emerges. Two suggestions that were valuable to me were: Stay away from negative people, their problems, their messes, and ugliness and be careful of statements like “This is just between you and me.” One of my professors reminded us that when we were in the midst of difficult situations, always take the high road. It is important to remain positive, look for everyone’s strengths, and not engage in gossip. My current principal is a great example of this. I seldom hear him talk about people. He is a very positive person and keeps personnel issues confidential.