Chris just took over as CEO and has called an all-hands meeting with the company’s few-dozen employees to lay out his vision.

“We’re going to outwork and outsmart our competition,” he says. “It’s going to require long hours and extreme dedication, but we will stop at nothing to turn this around."  

But on Friday, he's seen leaving the building with his golf clubs at 2 p.m.

Then, the following week, he comes in multiple times at 10:30 a.m.

Needless to say, the employees take note.

“Why are we possibly going to work this hard if this is his effort level?”, one asks another.

Failing to hold ourselves to the standard is one of five ways leaders can quickly lose trust and see their larger ambitions go unfulfilled. Others include:

2. General incompetence

This can come in the form of bad ideas, delusional expectations or costly mistakes that could have easily been prevented.

We don’t have to have all of the answers or perfect solutions to every challenge. But we must at least be in tune with the realities of the organization and have an accurate feel for the larger climate in which our team members operate.  

3. Failure to put in the work

We don’t have to be able to fulfill the exact same responsibilities as those we lead, but we must be relatable when it comes to sweat equity and commitment level.

That entails exhibiting empathy with our time demands and the various tasks we assign. 

We cannot demand that others put in the hours if we’re not willing to ourselves. 

4. Make promises we don’t keep

Team members count on the words of the leader and base their expectations on these.

Making proclamations that sound good in the moment all to renege on these down the road is one of the fastest ways for leaders to lose larger buy-in with their group. If we say something, we must mean it.

5. Unpredictable temperament

One day, the leader may be cracking jokes and laughing with the team. The next, he’s enraged and overly intense.

While team members typically understand there will be some inevitable shifts in temperament based on various situations, mood swings can’t be so extreme that those we lead have absolutely no idea what version of us to expect.

There must be a larger consistency to our communication, core philosophies and general demeanor if we wish to be successful in the long term. 

The point is that we don’t have to be right 100 percent of the time to get our team members to perform at their highest levels. There will be instances where our plans go awry and unexpected adversity presents itself.

But our commitment, our general grasp of the landscape and our devotion to our team can never be in doubt. 

Because once faith in the leader dissipates, seldom is it quickly restored.

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