In today’s pressure cooker business world, there is greater uncertainty and risk for people and organisations. It’s during these turbulent and unpredictable times that trust issues begin to surface, sometimes unbeknownst to leaders. Used to the times when things were predictable and the stakes low, leadership didn’t even need to consider trust. But throw in some instability and fear, and all of a sudden trust problems can become a strategic execution derailer.
A couple of months ago I went out for drinks with some of the graduates I studied with at the AICD company director’s course. One of the members had recently arrived back in Australia following a two-month executive leadership course at Harvard that grooms potential company CEOs. It was pretty intensive. One hundred leaders from around the world studying and living together, while successful American CEOs addressed the class together with the world’s best business school teachers.