Six Trusted Leader Moments of Truth

Have you ever had a conversation with a boss and their reaction or language changed how you felt about them in that moment?

In marketing, a moment of truth is any opportunity a customer (or potential customer) has to form an impression about a company, brand, product or service. Marketers use moments of truth to create positive, customer-centric outcomes.

But it's not just when customers interact with our brand - moments of truth also occur when employees interact with their leaders.

During my qualitative research within organisations, I have come across six stand-out moments of truth, when a leader is seen as someone employees can trust.  These are pivotal moments that effectively bring out employees who might be hiding in their shell to step forward and bring their full commitment to their work. It's the moment when a boss literally took their breath away (but in a good, non-romantic kind of way) signalling that they are a person of high character.

These positive interactions indicate to employees that their leader supports them and will be there for them.

I believe that leaders need to authentically create these critical moments to foster healthy and productive team cultures - an environment where employees are trusted to thrive.

The six moments of truth for leadership interactions are:

1. When your employees make a mistake

One of the defining moments in a working relationship is the first time a leader reacts to an employee's mistake.  If there is cynicism, anger, frustration or even a hint of a dirty look, it sets up the foundations for a rocky working relationship.

Leaders who regard problems as an opportunity to learn, empower their direct reports to continue to share their mistakes, but to also be open to learning from them.  Being able to do this consistently is no easy feat - but it will go a long to building strong relationships with your direct reports.

2. When you visit an employee at their place of work