All About Trust

CEO and Founder Andrew Ledgerton-Lynch OBE points to engendering trust as being the critical factor for all great leaders and speakers

“It’s all about trust,” a great leader once told me, and she wasn’t wrong.

As defining attributes and characteristics go it is certainly near the top of the list, right alongside integrity, honesty, compassion, inspiration and understanding. There are as many different composites to a great leader as there are styles of leadership but there are few defining factors on which they all overlap, and trust is one of them.

Whether inspiring a team to undertake a perilous mission, lead an organisation to transform their attitude, approach and objectives, or simply inspire personnel to raise their standards, trust is a fundamental element. Without it, there is no sure footing, no way to develop a following, or take people with you.

Like most things, it starts from within. All leaders need to be sure footed and confidence in their own ability – that they have the right training, experience and self-belief to develop a vision, meet their strategic targets and help the organisation and people to deliver their objectives.

“That’s what trust is, an investment in the other person – complete support, understanding and a deep sense of dependability”

Emerson said that ‘self-trust is the first secret of success’. Stephen Covey – he of ‘The 7 Highlights of Highly Effective People’ fame – went further stating that ‘Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people’. It is the ‘most essential ingredient in effective communication’, he avowed, acclaiming it as ‘the glue of life… It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships’.

Garnering said trust is another matter altogether, whether that be through shared experience, loyalty, reward and respect, compassion and kindness, or just plain outright brilliance, there are multiple routes to securing that ‘glue of life’.

A core element that has been referenced much of late is authenticity and being your ‘real self’. This may appear inevitable to some but if the freedom to do so has been restricted, in the workplace or wherever else, then distrust will only proliferate from those under pressure.

Finding freedom of expression and being encouraged to do so by those around you – the colleagues, friends and leaders who truly inspire – is worth it’s weight in gold. It is natural to reciprocate the faith and encouragement given by others and one of the best ways to do so is to invest your trust in them. And that’s what trust is, an investment in the other person – complete support, understanding and a deep sense of dependability. You are investing your faith in that individual, not just sensing, but knowing that will be fully repaid.

“Finding freedom of expression and being encouraged to do so by those around you – the colleagues, friends and leaders who truly inspire – is worth it’s weight in gold”

Talking about trust and leadership is a narrow expression of the broader relationship collaboration that exists constantly across all interactions. It is a dynamic that swings back and forth, fortified by an invisible but indestructible force that connects and enhances the individual by multiplying power in numbers.

Freedom of expression is manifestly empowered, authenticity flourishes, laughter is transferrable and becomes infectious, sentiments are shared, actions are taken unilaterally and collaboratively, and so much more is achieved through that simple, incredibly human, investment of trust.

So it is with speaking engagements. The trust between speaker and audience, often established in the opening seconds, sometimes built time through shared stories and empathy, but always a strong, motivating factor in transforming thought and eventually, taking action.

There is also a clear, career-long biography attached, mostly consisting of decades of public service from most of the Blue Light Speakers Agency presenters, but always eye-catchingly commendable.

Both professionally and personally, could there be a more awe inspiring and praiseworthy dedication than having someone –team, workforce, or an audience, a family member – place their trust in you?

Find out more about our most trustworthy of speakers at: Blue Light Speakers Agency | For Inspirational Public Sector Speakers