April 19, 2025

Three Ways to Build Your Leadership Trust Account

Trust forms the foundation of leadership, functioning like a bank account where we make deposits through positive actions and withdrawals through negative behaviors.

• Trust requires doing what you say, saying what you do, and being authentically human in all interactions
• It often takes "99 attaboys to make up for one aw crap moment" in leadership
• When trust is broken, asking for forgiveness isn't enough—behavior change is essential
• Apologizing without changing behavior is like "patching a bucket while still running water into it"
• The Platinum Rule suggests treating others how they want to be treated, not just how you want to be treated
• Building trust requires consistent deposits that accumulate interest over time

Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it and leave a five-star review to help more uncommon leaders discover this message. Until next time, go and grow champions.

Thanks for listening in to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Please take just a minute to share this podcast with that someone you know that you thought of when you heard this episode. One of the most valuable things you can do is to rate the podcast and leave a review. You can do that on Apple podcasts, or rate the podcast on Spotify or any other platform you listen.

Did you know that many of the things that I discuss on the Uncommon Leader Podcast are subjects that I coach other leaders and organizations ? If you would be interested in having me discuss 1:1 or group coaching with you, or know someone who is looking to move from Underperforming to Uncommon in their business or life, I would love to chat with you. Click this link to set up a FREE CALL to discuss how coaching might benefit you and your team)

Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!

Connect with me

00:00 - Weekly Leadership Highlights Introduction

01:16 - Trust As A Leadership Bank Account

03:02 - Rebuilding After Trust Withdrawals

05:25 - Golden Rule In Leadership

05:48 - After Show Wrap-up

WEBVTT

00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:05.573
It sometimes feels like it takes 99 attaboys to make up for one aw crap moment.

00:00:05.573 --> 00:00:12.432
So at its core it's simple Do what you say, say what you do and be authentically human in your interactions with others.

00:00:12.432 --> 00:00:23.362
But simple doesn't always mean easy Common leaders.

00:00:23.362 --> 00:00:24.608
Welcome back to the after show.

00:00:24.608 --> 00:00:27.525
This is like your weekly dose of leadership insights.

00:00:27.525 --> 00:00:33.939
A chance for me to summarize, if you will, a great conversation I've had recently on the Uncommon Leader podcast.

00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:39.773
You can kind of treat it like your leadership highlights, so to speak, that you might watch after a football game.

00:00:39.773 --> 00:00:49.009
It's the After Show and I want to add some of my key points for you and help you to take away some actionable insights from my conversations that I have.

00:00:49.792 --> 00:00:54.026
This week I had an incredible conversation with the author of Endless Customers.

00:00:54.026 --> 00:01:16.251
His name was Marcus Sheridan and he really had a chance to share with us some powerful insights on closing what he referred to as the trust deficit with customers, and he talked about business, but I think this correlates so much with leadership as well, and he and I touched on that just a little bit, that I couldn't think how it perfectly lines up to the principles of leadership.

00:01:16.251 --> 00:01:18.144
So he gave us four key points.

00:01:18.144 --> 00:01:20.271
He said, to say what others aren't willing to say.

00:01:20.271 --> 00:01:22.784
Show what others aren't willing to show.

00:01:22.784 --> 00:01:25.471
Sell how others aren't willing to sell.

00:01:25.471 --> 00:01:29.150
And his fourth point be more human than others are willing to be.

00:01:29.150 --> 00:01:31.085
So let's dig into that a little bit.

00:01:31.085 --> 00:01:33.388
Think of that from again, from a leadership standpoint.

00:01:33.388 --> 00:01:49.930
My favorite leadership book of all time, the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C Maxwell, law number six is the law of solid ground, and in that chapter he says that trust is the foundation of leadership, and I don't think there's anything that's more true in that today.

00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:59.689
You know, I really believe that that book, frankly, is one that all leaders should read as required reading as they get started on their leadership journey.

00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:03.370
But enough about my marketing of John Maxwell's books.

00:02:03.370 --> 00:02:04.760
He does a good enough job with that.

00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:06.341
But enough about my marketing of John Maxwell's books.

00:02:06.341 --> 00:02:07.082
He does a good enough job with that.

00:02:07.102 --> 00:02:14.568
Ultimately, when I think of this trust word, I think of it like a bank account and we have to make deposits and we got to make withdrawals to that bank account.

00:02:14.568 --> 00:02:17.110
That's what happens ultimately.

00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:24.836
When you make more withdrawals than you make deposits, then you lose the influence in your leadership and it becomes very difficult.

00:02:24.836 --> 00:02:26.418
Now how do we make those withdrawals?

00:02:26.418 --> 00:02:40.549
Some of those happen when you don't do something that you make a commitment in doing, or some of them when you act out and yell in a situation and ultimately less human than you usually are and folks get defensive.

00:02:40.549 --> 00:02:50.432
In that it's like when someone says I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and like it's supposed to justify their behavior and justify some of those things.

00:02:50.432 --> 00:02:54.350
And you know, I wish it were that simple and even something I could do as well.

00:02:54.350 --> 00:03:00.122
But if you realize you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed, why don't you just get back into bed and get back out on the other side?

00:03:00.122 --> 00:03:05.930
Or if you know which side is the bad side, go ahead and push that side up against the wall so you can't get out of it anymore.

00:03:05.930 --> 00:03:19.712
The fact is we have no excuses for making those withdrawals, and so what's the challenge I mean ultimately, if we treat it like a bank account and we try to maintain a positive account, more deposits than withdrawals.

00:03:20.355 --> 00:03:25.449
It's important to understand that those withdrawals are often more difficult to overcome.

00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:32.252
With deposits, it sometimes feels like it takes 99 attaboys to make up for one aw crap moment.

00:03:32.252 --> 00:03:32.983
So at its core.

00:03:32.983 --> 00:03:39.112
It's simple Do what you say, say what you do and be authentically human in your interactions with others.

00:03:39.112 --> 00:03:41.627
But simple doesn't always mean easy.

00:03:41.627 --> 00:03:47.705
If you've got a negative balance in your trust account with someone that you're going to chat with, what do you do?

00:03:47.705 --> 00:03:56.574
We got to ask for forgiveness and I encourage you to understand not to expect immediate acceptance of that.

00:03:56.574 --> 00:03:58.419
You've got to change your behaviors.

00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:03.361
People will forgive, but they don't forget some of those things, especially if there's been some bad withdrawals.

00:04:03.361 --> 00:04:06.455
And you've got to change your behaviors as a leader.

00:04:06.455 --> 00:04:19.591
If you ask for forgiveness or you apologize to someone for some activity, yet you don't change your behavior, frankly, there's nothing really worse than that, and I've heard it referred to as trying to patch a bucket while still running water into the bucket.

00:04:19.591 --> 00:04:20.473
It just doesn't work.

00:04:20.473 --> 00:04:22.064
It doesn't make it easy.

00:04:22.064 --> 00:04:36.069
So you've got to make sure that when you apologize, that when you ask for forgiveness, you are changing your behavior so that you're making more deposits back into that trust account than you make withdrawals One of the things that I also believe through this.

00:04:36.129 --> 00:04:37.521
You can read that in scripture as well.

00:04:37.521 --> 00:04:43.524
Matthew 7, 12 says so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law.

00:04:43.524 --> 00:04:49.783
That's about as clear as it gets and something and people have often referred to that as a golden rule.

00:04:49.783 --> 00:05:02.403
I even like to subscribe to the platinum rule myself, which is the golden rule plus, which ultimately is treating people the way they would like to be treated not just how you want to be treated, but how they want to be treated.

00:05:02.403 --> 00:05:25.112
If you made too many withdrawals, no doubt about it one of the most important things you can do is ask for forgiveness and then, more importantly, change your behavior going forward and make more deposits into that account, treat others with the same respect and humility that you wish they would show you, and watch that trust account fill back up again, put a positive account in there and start to accumulate interest on that as you go.

00:05:25.112 --> 00:05:28.898
Well, that's the after show for today.

00:05:28.898 --> 00:05:31.187
Folks, remember, trust is the foundation of leadership.

00:05:31.187 --> 00:05:35.271
Without it, your effectiveness as a leader is going to be severely diminished.

00:05:35.271 --> 00:05:47.130
Make those deposits and avoid those withdrawals as much as you can, and go back and listen to my full episode with Marcus Sheridan as he talks about some of his incredible insights on his new book, endless Customers.

00:05:48.122 --> 00:05:50.254
And if this episode has resonated with you just a little bit.

00:05:50.254 --> 00:05:51.901
Please share it with someone who needs to hear it.

00:05:51.901 --> 00:05:58.062
We can get it in the hands of more uncommon listeners like you that need to hear this message.

00:05:58.062 --> 00:06:00.949
And if you get a chance, go ahead and leave a five-star review.

00:06:00.949 --> 00:06:02.120
I would appreciate it.

00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:05.507
And until next time, go and grow champions.

00:06:05.507 --> 00:06:11.826
And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast.

00:06:11.826 --> 00:06:13.004
Thanks for tuning in today.

00:06:13.004 --> 00:06:20.470
If you found value in this episode, I encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues or anyone else who could benefit from the insights and inspiration we've shared.

00:06:20.470 --> 00:06:27.086
Also, if you have a moment, I'd greatly appreciate if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform.

00:06:27.086 --> 00:06:34.966
Your feedback not only helps us to improve, but it also helps others discover the podcast and join our growing community of uncommon leaders.

00:06:34.966 --> 00:06:40.699
Until next time, go and grow champions.