Leadership Thought: How to Become a Trustworthy Person

Dear Friends,

The explorer named Ernest Shackleton set out with 27 men on his crew to cross Antarctica, but before they got very far, their ship that was called Endurance, was trapped in ice and for 10 months they drifted on the frozen seas.   Eventually the ice crushed the ship, and that ship would sink. The men were stranded on shifting ice in subzero temperatures with no rescue in sight for nearly two years.

But here's what's remarkable. Shackleton didn't lose a single man. Not even one. Why? Because his crew trusted him. He ate the same rations they did. He took the worst shifts, and he lived the same way his crew did. When morale was the lowest, he never asked his men to do something that he wasn't willing to do himself. The men didn't follow Shackleton because of his  title, but because of his faithful testimony, one which was built on the foundation of trust. People don’t follow leaders because of a title. They follow a leader because of trust.  And that is always earned in  small and little increments performed day after day.  

Trust develops the way you build your house, one brick at a time. Every time you do something that is honest, every time you do what you say you are going to do, or show up on time, or fulfill a commitment, you  put another brick in the house that will eventually become your home

Being trustworthy is a tremendous responsibility, and one that must constantly be guarded, for it can be lost in a moment by some small failure.

Trust develops over time and building it is one of the most valuable resources a leader can possess.

When someone approaches you to be a part of your team there are three things they will have in mind. “Can you help me?” Will you care for me?” And most importantly, “Can I trust you?” Trustworthiness will become one of a leader's most important assets.

“Many people claim to be loyal, but it is hard to find a trustworthy person.” (Proverbs 20:6)

Jesus taught “That whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much" (Luke 16::10). Today, people want to serve God in obvious and showy ways. But God says you build your trust by doing little, even insignificant things, and doing them faithfully again and again. You do them even when no one is watching you. And God reminds us, "If you are faithful in doing those little things, He will give you greater and greater responsibility."

Do you want people to trust you? You can build that trust by always being  honest, sincere, faithful and reliable.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

 P.S. "The best way you can find out if you can trust a person is to trust him" Ernest Hemingway