By Ramkumar Seshu, , Author of Born to Win and Antar Prerana – Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
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𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲—𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲
𝘉𝘺 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘶, 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘵𝘢
“𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴.” – 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘆
But here’s what Covey didn’t mention: In the CEO’s chair, trust isn’t just about relationships—it’s about results. Companies with high-trust cultures outperform their peers by 76% in revenue growth and see 40% less turnover. Yet, here’s the sobering reality I’ve witnessed across 250+ organizations: most leaders treat trust as a byproduct of success rather than its primary driver.
That’s backwards thinking, and it’s costing you more than you realize.
The Trust Deficit Crisis
In my 42 years of leadership transformation work, I’ve seen brilliant CEOs with game-changing visions fail for one reason: they couldn’t build the trust needed to execute those visions. Their teams doubted their decisions, questioned their motives, and hesitated when swift action was required.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁.
I recently worked with a CEO whose company was haemorrhaging talent despite offering competitive packages and exciting growth opportunities. The problem wasn’t compensation or vision—it was credibility. This leader had a pattern of making commitments they couldn’t keep, changing direction without explanation, and taking credit while deflecting blame.
The result: A team that felt more like they were managing up than being led forward.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁
Through our Born to Win methodology, we’ve identified four non-negotiable pillars that every CEO must master:
𝟭. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Your Actions Must Match Your Words
Nothing erodes trust faster than the “Do as I say, not as I do” leadership style. Your team watches your behaviour more closely than they listen to your words.
The Test: Do your decisions align with your stated values, especially when under pressure?
𝟮. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Share the ‘Why’ Behind Decisions
People don’t need to agree with every decision, but they need to understand the reasoning behind it. Transparency doesn’t mean sharing everything—it means sharing what matters for their understanding and getting a buy-in.
The Practice: Before announcing any major decision, ask yourself: “Have I explained the thinking that led to this choice?”
𝟯. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Deliver on Your Promises
Trust isn’t just about character—it’s about capability. Your team needs confidence that you can navigate the challenges ahead.
The Reality Check: Track your commitment-to-delivery ratio. If it’s below 60%, you have a competence perception problem.
𝟰. 𝗩𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Admit When You Don’t Know
The strongest leaders aren’t those who have all the answers—they’re those secure enough to say “I don’t know, but let’s figure it out together.”
The Shift: Move from “𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁” to “𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Here’s how one of our clients transformed their leadership credibility in 90 days:
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁
• Conducted anonymous feedback sessions with direct reports
• Identified specific trust gaps and perception issues
• Created accountability systems for tracking commitments
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮: 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
• Implemented weekly “commitment reviews” with the team
• Started sharing decision-making rationale in team meetings
• Began acknowledging mistakes and lessons learned publicly
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟯: 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
• Created psychological safety for team members to voice concerns
• Established “fail-forward” protocols that encouraged smart risk-taking
• Developed recognition systems that celebrated collaborative wins
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: Employee engagement scores increased by 35%, voluntary turnover dropped by 60%, and the team successfully launched two critical initiatives ahead of schedule.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 : 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳?”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
Our “𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡, 𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡” philosophy starts with the foundation of trust. Through our proven 4D methodology—Diagnosis, Design, Deployment, and Discipline—we help leaders build the trust infrastructure that accelerates everything else they want to achieve.
Remember: Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. But when you commit to building it systematically, it becomes your most powerful competitive advantage.
𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿?
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About the Author: Ramkumar Seshu has spent over two decades helping leaders build the trust and credibility needed for sustainable success. His trust-building frameworks have been implemented across 250+ organizations, creating lasting transformation in leadership effectiveness.
