I’ve been buried, both with starting a new job and in writing my next book, but I wanted to come up for air and write a newsletter on a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately: trust.
One of the things I’ve noticed in my career in various leadership positions, both as the principal or as part of an executive team—twelve years—is the importance of trust in leadership. You will always, always have critics on the margins, even when you are at your best. Yet good leadership keeps the critic percentage to a minimum with something very simple: managing trust. It’s like a reservoir, a bank that has to continually receive deposits.
When trust is high, criticism and rumors and conspiracy theories are present, but low. Today’s age of information and the tribalization of social media has made the task of leadership more difficult, but not impossible. So what erodes trust? Well, in true Baptist fashion I want to highlight four bad habits that erode trust, alliterated with the letter “C.”
Communication Failures
Leaders must be good communicators, especially in this age. A leader doesn’t have to be eloquent or a prolific producer of content, though both can be key assets. But what he must do is communicate and over-communicate and do it clearly, especially when making difficult decisions. Here is a recent example of good communication:
Few businesses were hit as hard by the coronavirus as Lifeway Christian Resources. Last year, they had to sell all of their brick-and-mortar bookstores in a nod to the way that books are increasingly sold online. They rebounded early this year with their core, bread-and-butter products: curriculum for parents and children of all ages that is used by millions of people every week, book publishing (full disclosure: my next book is with their subsidiary, B&H), Vacation Bible School, and camps. These are evergreen sources of revenue with thousands of churches depending on these resources every week. Well, coronavirus hit them here in every way: churches aren’t meeting and are cancelling subscription orders, camps are cancelled in many or most states, and few, if any, churches are going to be hosting VBS. So Lifeway had to make the hard choice to make significant budget cuts, including selling the popular Ridgecrest camp and letting quite a few employees go. Hard, gut-wrenching, easy to misunderstand decisions. So what did the CEO, Ben Mandrell do? He recorded a video and gave transparent, no-spin, no-scripted answers. Watch the video. It’s a textbook example of leadership communication.
Character Deficits
Nothing undermines leadership capital like public lapses in character. Let’s begin with the caveat that every single leader, up close, will disappoint in some ways. We are all flawed. But there are certain lapses in judgement, lacks of transparency, and hypocrisy that erodes trust quickly. Many local and national leaders have worked hard to make good decisions in difficult situations in these times. I don’t envy anyone in public life right now. But we have also seen case after case where those with authority and power have abused it. We have seen elite leaders making laws and then getting caught breaking the same laws they created. Almost every institution in public life has disappointed us in this way. Nothing erodes trust faster than hypocrisy or lack of integrity. Poor character is undefeated, and it always catches up to talent and engulfs leadership.
Condescending Posture
Those of us who lead in any capacity, whether at the organizational level, para-church, higher-ed, in the church, in business, etc. are often surrounded by peers. We are well-read. We keep upon the latest trends and are in tune with the most pressing news stories. This is good. Leaders are sharpened by being around other leaders. But there is a subtle danger we face that we don’t often see: losing touch with the people we lead. The danger is this: living in and operating in and communicating in a tight bubble where we are only hearing voices who agree with us.
You cannot lead people you resent. Nobody wants to follow or listen to a leader they sense is not one of them, who seems embarrassed by them. This is why it is important for leaders to escape their bubbles and spend time with people who don’t know what Twitter is and have never stepped foot in a green room. I’m going to embarrass my pastor here, but Daryl Crouch never sounds like he’s leading from an ivory tower. When he preaches, I can tell he’s spent time with the congregation.
Creep of Mission
Getting sidetracked away from organizational priorities and values is a sure way to lose trust. This happens slowly over time as organizations or churches or businesses grow bigger or and start to say yes to good, but off-mission projects. That’s why it’s important to constantly revisit the mission. For a church, this is the Bible, the statement of faith or denominational creed, and a mission statement that springs from those two. For an organization, it is to constantly refer back to the mission state or statement of values and purpose, for an organization, it’s initial charter and mission. The best leaders are able to communicate the need for change by grounding their ideas in the original mission. When they don’t and there is a perception of mission drift, the core constituents begin to whisper, “Why are we doing this?” “Is this in our lane?” If you can connect it to the mission, people will buy in. If you seem to be doing things ad hoc, then you will lose trust and credibility over time.
This also means regular reinforcement of core values. A church must continually reinforce key doctrines and teach them as new. Every generation has to hear and learn theology like it’s new. For businesses, this means repeating the key themes of the mission, over and over again. For nonprofits and other organizations, it’s constantly repeating, understanding, and internalizing core principles.
So in summary: trust is vital for leadership. A reservoir of trust allows good leaders to lead well. But a depleted sense of trust limits leadership and leads to unforced errors and avoidable crises.
Interesting Links
It’s such a heavy week with both the awful injustice against George Floyd and the unrest in cities around the country. At times I’ve just found myself praying with heaviness for justice, for peace, for those on the margins to be heard and to be lifted up. I thought our two former presidents, Obama and Bush, both spoke eloquently to the moment.
So many have written so much. But I was moved and challenged by this convicting and prophetic call by Tony Evans.
Andy Crouch has written persuasively about the need to restrict our news diet. I needed to read this because I tend to obsess on news in times of crisis, but he wisely says that knowing more isn’t always good for us.
Nancy French participated in the George Floyd protests here in Nashville and talked about her experience. She left when the peaceful marchers were disrupted by more aggressive and violent looters.
Lastly, Ross Douthat delivers an incisive column talking about the bipartisan governance issues that have left our major cities bereft of good leadership
What I’m Reading
I just finished The President is Missing by James Patterson and President Bill Clinton and it was a thrill ride that didn’t disappoint. Never apologize for reading fun books.
I’m in the middle of The Ride of a Lifetime by Disney CEO Bob Iger. So much good leadership wisdom here.
My friend Juan Sanchez has a wonderful book on leadership, The Leadership Formula.
Personal Projects
Well, I can finally tell you that I’ve just signed a contract with Moody Publishers for The Characters of Easter. They were pleased with the sales of The Characters of Christmas and so we decided to do this. I’m in the middle of writing it with a very short deadline so it can be released next Easter.
In August, A Way With Words, Using Our Online Conversations for Goodwill be released. I’m excited about this book and think it will stir up some conversations about the way Christians engage online. Pre-order season is just around the corner and there will be some pretty cool things my publisher is doing for that. So stay tuned to this space here.
This Week on The Way Home Podcast
Does following Jesus feel impossible? Are you trying hard to be a good Christian while secretly feeling exhausted and overwhelmed? Vance Pitman joins me to talk about his first book Unburdened: Stop Living for Jesus So Jesus Can Live through You.
Vance is the senior pastor at Hope Church Las Vegas.
This episode of The Way Home is sponsored by our friends at The Good Book Company, publisher of Where is God in a Coronavirus World? by John Lennox.
Show Notes
Book: Unburdened: Stop Living for Jesus So Jesus Can Live through You
Website: hopechurchonline.com
Twitter: @vancepitman
Podcast: Vance Pitman Leadership Podcast
Featured Resource
In light of racial tension in America, many Christian leaders are talking earnestly about racial reconciliation. The average Christian may not fully understand why racial reconciliation is a gospel imperative. And the average pastor may not know how to pursue it. This Bible study, edited by Daniel Darling and Trillia Newbell, features a multi-voice video series from evangelical leaders that sheds light on issues of race, culture, and the gospel, and equips small groups to take action.
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