John Stanko

"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice" - Proverbs 27:9.

Effective leadership is even more so when good relationships between leaders and followers exist. The strength of those relationships are nurtured by trust that allows a free flow of communication, which clarifies vision, produces energy, and stimulates creativity. Trusting relationships also stimulate open and honest dialogue that comes from the heart as well as the head, and makes everyone in the relationships more effective at what they do—not just the leader. It is up to leaders to establish and maintain these life-giving relationships, realizing that a leader is often only as good as his or her followers.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Your step today is to institute an 'ice breaker' or other exercise at the start of your next staff meeting to help build trust. Have each person at the meeting take five minutes to share where they grew up, where they were in the birth order of their family, and something about their childhood that everyone in the room probably doesn't know. If the group is large, do it over several meetings, or simply devote the entire staff meeting to completing the exercise.