Page 402 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

CHAPTER 12 • Leadership and Trust 401
EI has been shown to be positively related to job performance at all levels. But it appears
to be especially relevant in jobs that demand a high degree of social interaction. And of credibility
The degree to which followers perceive someone as
course, that’s what leadership is all about. Great leaders demonstrate their EI by exhibiting all honest, competent, and able to inspire
five of its key components: self-awareness, self-management, self-motivation, empathy, and trust
social skills (see pp. 296–297). The belief in the integrity, character, and ability of
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Although there has been some controversy about the role of EI in leadership, most a leader
research makes a case for concluding that EI is an essential element in leadership effective-
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ness. As such, it could be added to the list of traits associated with leadership that we
described earlier in the chapter.

Why Is Trust the Essence of Leadership?

Trust, or lack of trust, is an increasingly important issue
12-5 Discuss trust as in today’s organizations. In today’s uncertain environ-
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the essence of ment, leaders need to build, or even rebuild, trust and
leadership. credibility. Before we can discuss ways leaders can do
that, we have to know what trust and credibility are and
why they’re so important.
The main component of credibility is honesty. Surveys show that honesty is consis-
tently singled out as the number one characteristic of admired leaders. “Honesty is abso-
lutely essential to leadership. If people are going to follow someone willingly, whether it
be into battle or into the boardroom, they first want to assure themselves that the person
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is worthy of their trust.” In addition to being honest, credible leaders are competent and
inspiring. They are personally able to effectively communicate their confidence and enthu-
siasm. Thus, followers judge a leader’s credibility in terms of his or her honesty, compe-
tence, and ability to inspire.
Trust is closely entwined with the concept of credibility, and, in fact, the terms are of-
ten used interchangeably. Trust is defined as the belief in the integrity, character, and ability PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is a leader with high
of a leader. Followers who trust a leader are willing to be vulnerable to the leader’s actions emotional intelligence. Shown here listening
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because they are confident that their rights and interests will not be abused. Research has to an employee at the firm’s yogurt plant,
identified five dimensions that make up the concept of trust: Nooyi possesses the five EI components that
have contributed to her excellent performance
in jobs that demand a high degree of social
• Integrity: honesty and truthfulness interaction with workers, customers, and busi-
• Competence: technical and interpersonal ness leaders throughout the world.
knowledge and skills
• Consistency: reliability, predictability, and
good judgment in handling situations
• Loyalty: willingness to protect a person,
physically and emotionally
• Openness: willingness to share ideas and in-
formation freely 64

Of these five dimensions, integrity seems to
be the most critical when someone assesses
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another’s trustworthiness. Both integrity and
competence were seen in our earlier discus-
sion of leadership traits found to be consis-
tently associated with leadership.
Workplace changes have reinforced why
such leadership qualities are important. For
instance, trends of employee empowerment
and self-managed work teams have reduced
many of the traditional control mechanisms
used to monitor employees. If a work team
is free to schedule its own work, evaluate its
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