6 Essential Qualities of a Trustworthy Leader

You know better than anyone how important it is to have an organization where trust prevails. It has been proven that this leads to greater speed, more revenue, higher profits, and lower costs. And that means it starts with you! As the leader of your organization, you hold the key to trust. Are you one of those leaders who set an example in your company? How do you do that, and what is needed? What do you need?

The new leader distinguishes themselves with a number of qualities in this regard. I’m curious if you recognize yourself in these qualities.

1. You possess a strong sense of self-awareness.
2. You are generally more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated.
3. You act based on a strong set of values and principles.
4. You have a strong and balanced sense of self-confidence.
5. You are communicatively skilled and aware, with good influencing skills.
6. You are experienced in the area of trust and understand that reliability and trust reinforce each other.

1: Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is both the awareness of what is going on in one’s own mind and body and the realization of one’s own existence. It is the awareness of your identity, of who you are, and what you do, think, feel, or have experienced. It is the foundational trait for emotional intelligence (EQ). People with a high degree of self-awareness generally know their weaknesses and are not afraid to discuss them with others. It is often said that “showing vulnerability” is true strength.

2: Intrinsically Motivated

With intrinsic motivation, the motivation comes from within the person themselves. This means that your passion for your work goes beyond the importance of status or money. Motivation is not influenced by things like punishment or reward, secondary employment conditions, or authority. In practice, we see that these people enjoy their work more, have a higher concentration level, more energy, and more creativity.

3: Values

Values are your most important drivers, so it is good to know and recognize them. Knowing your values for your work also enhances your self-awareness. Additionally, most organizations nowadays have formulated values. Often conceived and imposed by management, these values are often expressed in vague, formal terms and that’s where it usually ends. Values gain their power when the leadership, together with the team, concretely formulates the underlying behaviors for the company.

4: Self-Confidence

How can you trust others if you do not trust yourself? Do you keep your own commitments? For me, this was an eye-opener, and as a result of this insight, I made several changes. Strong leaders possess a healthy degree of self-confidence: confidence in themselves. Self-confidence also leads to more trust from the people around the individual. Self-confidence usually makes someone more independent and proactive. People with self-confidence know what they can do, what they are capable of, and what they have previously achieved.

It is, of course, important that self-confidence is correctly positioned, so it does not lead to overconfidence (thinking you are better than others) or arrogance (thinking you are better while that is not the case). The aforementioned self-awareness and self-knowledge will safeguard this and place your self-confidence in the right perspective.

5: Communicatively Strong

Leaders are communicatively skilled: they are aware of their own communication. They are also adept at “sharp sensory perception.” This means they can register reactions (however subtle) in others during their communication, in terms of body language, intonation, and words. Great leaders often have experience with NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). They are also capable of effectively connecting with people from different backgrounds.

6:Trust and Reliability

These two terms go hand in hand. Ultimately, it is about the relationship built between the one who gives trust and the one who experiences trust. Trust always requires at least two people/parties. They maintain each other by frequently switching roles.
So if one party only expects to be trusted but does not give trust, the trusted relationship will quickly diminish or disappear. Herein lies the essence of leadership development. Leaders must learn how to apply both aspects: how to have trust and how to give trust. Leaders are also role models for reliability.

Do you recognize yourself in the above qualities?
I am curious about your greatest insight in your organization regarding being trustworthy and fostering trust.