by Richard Nugent

Let’s get straight to the point.  There is one thing that people want from their leaders more than anything else.  In fact if this one thing is absent, even if the leader demonstrates strong leadership characteristics, he or she will struggle to maintain their ‘followership’.

So last chance for you to guess – what is the single most important thing that followers want from their leaders more than anything else?

Well most text books and research calls it ‘honesty’.  I have found through my work, that more specifically it is congruence.

In other words leaders must do what they say on the tin.  If there are mismatches between words and actions, between message and method, then those following will lose faith and trust.  If you lose faith and trust in a leader will you still follow them?  I thought not.

As many of you already know I work with leaders in business, sport and politics and I see examples of people losing faith and trust regularly in all three areas.

Without getting into the politics, when was the greater back lash from the public regarding MP’s expenses?  Was it when the story broke initially or when some MPs justified their spending by saying it was ‘within the rules’?

In football, the 2nd biggest complaint I have from playing clients is that their manager is not clear and honest with them about their decisions.  In cricket, it has become very clear that other players will have a huge amount more respect for a captain that is clear on what he stands even if they don’t fully agree with it.  Recently a county appointed a former England legend as their captain, however he quickly lost the dressing room by contradicting his requests of high standards from them with his own actions.

That brings us nicely to business.  If you are a leader, I would like you to consider one question…’who are you’?  Just before you answer, you are not allowed to reply with your own name.

Instead this question is designed to get you thinking about what you stand for as a leader.  After all if people want someone who does what they say on the tin, you had best work out what the tin says.