The look of complete trust
Written by on Thursday, December 6, 2007 – 7:15 pm -The other day as I was holding my 3 month old daughter, she looked up at me with a look I have not seen before. She looked at me with the look of complete trust, a look that made me realize that this innocent, beautiful little baby girl without knowing it put her entire life in my hands (well I guess she does not have a choice at this point in her life, but nonetheless the look was so pure). In that instant, I realized that I was her leader, I was the person who made all the decisions for her, I provided her safety and comfort.
As the leader of a company, your employees are much like my little girl (well metaphorically speaking of course, not literally). You, as the leader of the company, do provide everything for your employees, you provide the decisions for the company that can either provide future fruits for them or could provide future misery. That is a lot to bear on your shoulders, but it is your burden to bear. As the leader, that trust is something that is earned, it is not something that is simply just given to you by virtue of the position that you hold (unlike my example above about my daughter, it is something that I got by virtue of being her father, but that does not mean that I will do a good job or that she will always have that trust in me). Throughout your tenure as the leader of your company, you will have endless opportunities to mess up that trust, and I am sure there will be times that you will tarnish it, at least with a few of them. If you do, realize your mistakes and do whatever you can to fix it. After all, they are your “family” and family is built on trust.
With that complete trust of all your employees you will soar to new heights, your possibilities are endless. Without it, you are facing an uphill battle that will be tough all the way through.
Posted in Life, Opinions, Web Community |
Will Kern's take on business, startups, life and everything in between. This blog is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I’m not at all surprised that you get this, but I’m glad that you do. Thoughts like this are what make leaders.
December 7th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
@bkocik,
Thanks, that really meant a lot. My goal is to one day become that great leader.
December 8th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
[…] I read about 40 or so blogs a day that are written by people I consider to be friends. Every day, I read at least one post that impresses me or inspires me, makes me laugh or makes me think.Over the Thanksgiving break, there was a day when there were no new posts from my friends, so I tweeted about it. I got a direct tweet, that said, in essence, “But Micah, you havent posted in quite awhile either.” So, I am cheating, and every Saturday or so, I would post links to some of my favorite posts from the week before. In all honesty, I think it is better than a blogroll.All of this links will be to posts from blogs who’s writer I know personally, some of which get tons of readers, and others that may only get a couple. Regardless the blogs are fantastic, and worth the time it takes me to read them every day. The Look of Complete Trust - Since I am writing recently about the facets of a successful CEO/leader, Will’s take on the importance of trust was quite provoking. A Day in the Life - As I have gotten to know Alex, this window into his day paints a much larger picture than just one of meticulous time management.Boulder: Register to Vote Now! - Andrew has defined himself by passion and community.Sean Taylor and the Washington Redskins - Andy writes about 360 degree love he has for his father’s memory and his children’s future. There is nothing more important to me than family.Stacking the Shuttle - No matter how smart I think I am, some son of a bitch always shows that assumption to be wrong. This time its Todd who gives just a small glimpse why I decided to work for someone after 5 years of not working (for someone).Silicon Flatirons Roundtables - see above. How Did We Get Our Name? - How could I not list the greatest Rock Band of all time? Wonderful Evening with Friends -  I blame myself (slightly) for giving Tom the blogging bug, and boy has he caught it. But, with posts that show the care he has for his friends and partner Dale like this one, I look forward to my daily smile.When you know it’s not right . . . it isn’t - Like Todd and Brad one of the main reasons I am at Lijit, does a great job of stating my One True Rule of Life and then applying it to the VC world.The Social Media Rap - Shameless Self Promotion -  If you do nothing else, click the listen now button. Dave worked with me at Indigio, where I hired him to be an SEO guru. He has taken the concept of personal branding to a whole new level, and if you want to see an amazing personal brand being built before your eyes, read Dave WIN-JET’s blog. […]