My boss made a mistake on a project we were working on, and instead of owning his mistake, he said it was my fault. I sat through that meeting feeling shocked and disappointed. When we left the meeting he told me, “You are a good sport.” I knew I needed to start planning my exit strategy. I loved my job but I couldn’t trust my boss. He would throw you under the bus in a heartbeat to make himself look good.
Society longs for leaders of integrity. Integrity can take years to build and be destroyed in one moment. Once trust is lost, it is hard to regain.
7 Deal-breaking behaviours that makes employees lose trust in their leaders.
- Taking credit for someone’s work.
- Blaming others and not standing up for your team.
- False promises to get someone to do something.
- Favoritism and being unfair.
- Downplaying employees’ accomplishments to make oneself look better.
- Not appreciating loyalty, hard-work and efforts of others.
- Treating others poorly – not showing respect or empathy, micromanaging employees, not trusting them to do their job.
Talent will get you in the door but character will keep you in the room.
People don’t leave bad jobs. They leave bad bosses. A lot of business leaders don’t even realize how closely they’re being watched by their subordinates. Your ability to influence is not just based on skill or intelligence; it’s based on trust and requires integrity, which is the foundation of real and lasting influence.
An employee’s relationship with their manager sets the tone for their level of commitment to the organization’s success. Threats and intimidation only yield temporary results. You can’t keep throwing your employees under the bus and expect them to give their all.
If you aren’t a person of integrity— your team won’t trust you, vendors don’t believe you, and customers will not support your business.
People might tolerate a boring job or long commute, but they are more prone to leave if their boss treats them poorly. Many companies are struggling with low employee engagement. It all comes down to how you treat people. For loyalty, there has to be a relationship that develops between employee and employer and this develops over time through trust. Transparency, authenticity and walking the talk are essential for building trust. You can’t buy loyalty, but you can certainly foster and nurture it by being a person of integrity.
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Leading the Workforce of the Future
