Professionalism has been described as “Not just what you do, but how you do it.” One of the principles of my commitment to professionalism is Integrity: “be honest with fellow residents; build trust by being trustworthy.” Here’s how I live by that principle: I never say something that I know isn’t true. I never twist words to make something sound truer than it is. And when I make a mistake, I admit it, I apologize, and I correct the mistake. Otherwise, why would you trust anything I say or do again?
And trust is the bottom-line basis of leadership. I teach a graduate engineering seminar at Columbia University, “The Deep Secrets of Project Management.” In it, I give an introduction to the basics of project management, the “what you do” part. But I spend most of the seminar on the “how you do it” part by sharing some insights based on hard-learned lessons from my career in consulting and project management.
Many of these insights are about understanding that a project or any endeavor on this earth is driven by people — people with human strengths and frailties, people who want to be successful, and people who will surely make a mistake along the way. The people on a team need to be cared for by their leader: trust them, give them a break, forgive them. But it all leads to one most important lesson: Effective leadership requires building and maintaining team trust in you, the project manager. How does one do that? The answer is the greatest “deep secret” of all. And it’s simple: Be Trustworthy.
I’m honored that many of you I’ve met and spoken with are trusting me with your support for Governor of Valencia, even though we’ve just met or you’ve known me for only a short time. My commitment to you and to everyone in the Quadomain community is that over my tenure on the board I will earn your trust. How will I do that? By being trustworthy.
If we haven’t met, or if we have, I’d love to have a conversation. Please leave a comment, click on the Contact Us button, or send an email: [email protected].
Jim Ross