Trust & Inspire Leadership | Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog

Confidence and Motivation in Leadership

A The COMMAND & CONTROL leadership style comes naturally to us. And we turn to it more than we think. Always working better and necessary for successful leadership in this day and age is something called Steven MR Covey Confidence and Motivation leadership.

Trust & Inspire leadership is about “trusting people to do the right thing and inspiring them to make meaningful contributions.” In addition, it is about “connecting people to purpose so that they feel motivated not only by organizational leaders, but also by a sense of purpose, meaning, and contribution to their work.”

When we encourage someone, we breathe life into them. “We rekindle the inner spirit” that so much of life can take away from us.

In contrast to Command & Control, which is transactional, “Trust & Encouragement is transformational—it focuses on building relationships; to develop capabilities; to enable, empower, and grow people. And the funny thing is that it’s not only the most sustainable method, it’s actually the most efficient way. [in the long run] to get things done too.”

Many of the changes we’ve seen in the Command & Control approach are “changes of degree, not of kind. We’re still operating in the same paradigm.” So how do we make the transition to Trust and Encouragement?

How to Make the Change from Command & Control to Confidence and Motivation

The move to Trust & Inspire is a change in our core beliefs. Those basic beliefs are based on the understanding that leadership is stewardship. Stewardship is about holding the trust of those we lead and using all that is given to us to serve that trust. “It’s about leaving something in better shape than when we started our role.”

Covey’s Trust & Inspire framework divides stewardship into three stewardships that complement, and reinforce each other. Confidence Building and Inspirational leadership must have all three: Modeling, Confidenceand encouraging.

Modeling – Who You Are

Modeling is built on the idea that leaders come first and are developed from the inside out. “It is the source of credibility and your moral authority as a leader.”

Trust & Inspire leaders model three things: Humility and Courage—Authenticity and Vulnerability—Empathy and Performance.

Confidence – How You Lead

Do we give others confidence, or do we withhold it? “Confidence—how we lead—flows from fundamental beliefs in the greatness that exists within people and that our job as leaders is to unleash people’s potential, not control them. We bring out the greatness inside people by trusting them.” Not trusting others can make for an exhausting life.

It is important to clarify expectations and practice accountability. “When you clarify expectations, you create a shared vision and forward agreement about what to do.” And it’s a two-way street. We grow people through trust. “Great leaders grow people, and nothing grows people better – or faster – than an extension of trust.”

Motivate – Connect to the Why

Motivating others “flows from the belief that people are whole people—made up of body, heart, and spirit—and that a leader’s job is to inspire others from within rather than simply trying to encourage them from outside.”

Trust & Inspire leaders connect people to Purpose—a sense of contribution (why work matters), Person—self, relationships (caring), and team (belonging).

Making the Transition

Trust & Inspire is a mindset. It can be who you are even if in some situations you need to act with authority. But here’s the thing:

Trust & Inspire leaders have built credibility and relationships that allow them to act decisively when needed but with integrity. The difference between a Command & Control leader and a Trust & Inspire leader, even though their actions are the same, is that their behavior is interpreted completely differently, it comes from a different place.

Trust & Inspire is not a hands-off laissez-faire leadership but a very active, committed form of leadership. Making the transition to Trust & Inspire is not easy because it requires a change in fundamentals and beliefs. But the results are worth the effort.