Fundamentals of Building Trust

Arun Maira, erstwhile member of the Planning Commission, tells an anecdote of the Tata brand’s distinction of earning the trust of society by its values. Soon after WW II ended in 1946, the board of KraussMaffei, a large German engineering conglomerate met chairman JRD Tata and Sumant Moolgaonkar (CEO of the fledgling Telco) on the platform of the bombed out Munich station. India was under British rule,  and German and Indian companies could not any legal agreements among themselves. The Germans requested Tatas to take their jobless technicians and their families to India. They will teach you all they know; please take care of them them, is all we ask, they said. And thus Tatas learnt metal-working from the best of the best. Many years later when India gained  independence, a letter arrived at the KraussMaffei HQ. Now that we can, how much shall we pay you for the technology you have provided us, it asked. That letter has become a legend in the company of what trust means. You honour your debt, even when it's not legally binding, and even when it's not demanded of you.

Learning
Trust is not built through legal contracts between parties. It is built by doing the right thing by others always.

Showing Care And Concern

When an Air Asia plane flying from Indonesia to Singapore crashed in 2014, Group CEO Tony Fernandes, unmindful of the advice of his lawyers, felt that as the face of the brand, it was imperative that he had to be with the airline staff, and most importantly, considered it his responsibility to be there for the relatives of the victims.

Insight
When leaders display concern and care for their staff and customers, they reciprocate by becoming more trusting and forgiving of the leader and the company.

The Art of Leadership

"The art of leadership is not to spend your time measuring, evaluating. It’s all about selecting the person. And if you believe you selected the right person, then you give that person the freedom, the authority, the delegation to innovate and to lead with some very simple measure.” - Pierre Nanterme, CEO Accenture.

Insight
As a leader how much do you trust yourself to trust your people? How much do you trust yourself to tell your people what to do and let them do it their way?