Business_Spotlight_-_Nr.2_2020

42 Business Spotlight 2/2020 BUSINESS SKILLS

8. Building trust (BS 8/2019)
   Trust is a curious leadership phenomenon and
   difficult even to define. It is paradoxically both
   an outcome and a starting point for high per­
   formance. It is difficult to achieve trust if one
   withholds it for too long at the beginning of a
   process of collaboration. Who’s going to trust
   you if you don’t trust them? Yet, if you trust
   others too early, you risk failure. So, it’s really
   a balancing act. The key to developing trust is
   to accept some level of risk — making oneself
   vulnerable to, and dependent on, other people.
   Letting go is essential in order to free leaders
   from time­consuming supervision, so that
   they can spend their valuable and expert time
   on more strategic matters. That’s the quid pro
   quo. We all know it makes sense, yet learning to
   use trust as a tool is a challenging process, not
   least because success depends not only on our
   willingness to open ourselves up to risk, but the
   capability of others to complete the tasks that
   we entrust them with. Curiously, it seems that
   we may never be able to totally trust the notion
   of trust as a leadership tool.

QUESTIONS

A. What are the three main drivers of trust?

1. authority, salary and reputation


2. competence, experience and age


3. focus, track record and international experi­
   ence


4. credibility, intimacy and reliability

B. As a leader, which people is it important not

to trust blindly?

1. Those we do not like.


2. Those we do not know.


3. Those who we are not sure can perform well.


4. Those who have let us down in the past.

C. How should leaders regard a person who

promises to deliver and then fails to do so?

1. They should not be trusted again.


2. They are a risk that needs to be managed
   carefully.


3. They are probably unreliable.


4. They should be given a second chance.

D. How should leaders regard conflict?

1. As the best way to destroy trust.


2. As a possible signal of trust.


3. As a sign that people don’t trust each other.


4. As an opportunity to do team­building.
   9. Sharing leadership (BS 1/2020)
   Modern approaches to leadership focus far less
   on leaders than in the past. Rather, it’s leader­
   ship — the establishment of a common sense
   of direction with a common commitment to
   act in a specific way — that is important. This
   is a process that involves lots of people, many
   conversations, multiple influencers and, ulti­
   mately, multiple followers. These people are
   all co­dependent, even changing roles during
   discussions and collaboration. This approach
   to understanding the organizational life of
   leadership is both more realistic and also more
   engaging. The younger workforce, particularly,
   does not want to be led, but desires to partici­
   pate in leadership, without all the expertise and
   experience normally associated with that privi­
   lege. Add in a matrix structure — where “dotted
   lines” of informal authority seem as important
   as the “solid lines” attached to formal leaders —
   and shared leadership emerges as the critical
   success factor for organizations.

QUESTIONS

A. The best form of shared leadership in a

team will arise in which circumstances?

1. When everyone has the same mindset.


2. When everyone has a different mindset.


3. When everyone agrees.


4. When no one agrees.

B. What is a great way to support shared lead-

ership when leading a virtual team?

1. Delegate leadership tasks to team members
   to encourage a leader mentality.


2. Use videoconferences frequently to stay in
   touch with people.


3. Take decisions only when everyone agrees.


4. Appoint more than one deputy.

C. Why is “psychological safety” so important

for shared leadership?

1. Because it makes people relax.


2. Because people can focus more effectively.


3. Because it prevents mental health problems.


4. Because it encourages everyone to speak up
   and take accountability.

D. What should leaders do to inspire shared

leadership among leaders of other teams?

1. Give a presentation about shared leadership.


2. Suggest that you exchange team members
   to create a mutual learning process.


3. Ask others to involve you in their decision­
   making processes.


4. Make clear to others your desire to collabo­
   rate, and then live out your plan.

circumstance

[(s§:kEmstÄns]

, Umstand, Situation

credibility

[)kredE(bIlEti]

, Glaubwürdigkeit

deputy [(depjUti]

, Stellvertreter(in)

dotted line [)dQtId (laIn]

, gepunktete Linie

emerge as sth.

[i(m§:dZ Äz]

, sich als etw. heraus-

stellen

entrust sb. with sth.

[In(trVst wID]

, jmdm. etw. über-

antworten

expertise [)eksp§:(ti:z]

, Sachkompetenz

let go (of sth.) [)let (gEU]

, (von etw.) loslassen

let sb. down [)let (daUn]

, jmdn. enttäuschen

live sth. out [)lIv (aUt]

, hier: etw. gerecht

werden

mutual [(mju:tSuEl]

, wechselseitig

quid pro quo

[)kwId prEU (kwEU]

, Gegenleistung;

hier: im Gegenzug

erlangter Nutzen

speak up [)spi:k (Vp]

, sich äußern, seine

Meinung sagen

track record

[(trÄk )rekO:d]

, Erfolgsbilanz

vulnerable

[(vVlnErEb&l]

, verletzbar, angreifbar

withhold sth.

[wID(hEUld]

, etw. zurückhalten;

hier: verweigern

workforce [(w§:kfO:s]

, Erwerbsbevölkerung

THE KEY TO

DEVELOPING

TRUST IS

TO ACCEPT

SOME LEVEL

OF RISK