Build Trust To Achieve Full Potential

Wed, Oct 31st 2012, 09:33 AM

During the global economic downturn it seems that business leaders - especially those within the financial sector - have been portrayed as some kind of super-baddie that even James Bond would struggle to thwart. 'Care to Dare' is an attempt to humanise leadership. Interestingly, the authors themselves would not sound out of place in a Bond movie. George Kohlrieser was a former hostage negotiator and is currently Professor of Leadership at IMD in Switzerland; Susan Goldsworthy is a former Olympic finalist, and Duncan Coombe, a global organizational academic.

Within 'Care to Dare', they argue that leaders should provide team members with a sense of protection and safety. They illustrate this by using a rock climbing metaphor as shown on the book cover. The relationship between climbers is critical in supporting each other and providing 'secure bases' for those they lead. The reassurance of being supported by an experienced colleague encourages the climber to brave the heights and push himself to his limits.

Secure base leaders are instrumental in spurring people on, conquering challenges and outperforming rivals. The authors claim that secure base leaders should demonstrate nine key characteristics, including:

• Staying calm

• Developing individual potential

• Listening and inquiring

• Adopting a risk taking mindset.

Each characteristic is demonstrated by case studies and written exercises aimed at developing self-reflection around behavioral economics, emotional intelligence and situational leadership. Reference is also made to sociological research to underpin these theoretical foundations. Ultimately the 'Care to Dare' leadership philosophy is based upon nurturing and developing soft skills to realize potential by building the trust, managing change and inspiring sustainable high performance.

The author's extensive research included surveys of executives from across the globe and established that eighty percent of leaders fear failure, whilst just twenty percent take calculated risks to win. Their finding suggests that the primary difference between a successful leader and a failed leader is the development of supportive secure bases. Caring and daring is a new pragmatic approach for business success and suggests that leaders can be nice people during a time of financial, political and social evolution - motivated by a sense of belonging and achievement. It may not defeat Mr Bond, buts it's a welcome message in today's competitive and increasingly stressful workplace.

'Care to Dare' is published by Wiley and is available from www.Amazon.com.

• Keith Appleton JP, BA (Hons), N.Dip.M, MInstLM has extensive experience within an academic, managerial and strategic leadership role. He is a member of the UK Institute of Leadership & Management and can be contacted at KeithAppleton@Hotmail.co.uk or follow him at twitter.com/WritingRightNow.

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