Leadership Crisis and the Factor of Trust

Leadership is important for not only organisations, but also for political-socio-economic changes which impact our lives. We always blame that the leaders have failed us , whether it is organisational affairs, the affairs of our country or any other field. The general opinion is that there is leadership crisis in every field of socio-economic activity. However, one fails to realize that thee is lack of trust at all levels in the society. As a result it is very difficult to develop trust in a leader .Due to this there is cynicism all around. People do not have faith in the qualities of a leader. His actions are always suspect in the public eye. The failures of the political system,  or an organization are always attributed to the leaders. There is no attempt to understand the organizational dynamics from point of view of trust. Similarly, the fallacies of the political system are examined externally, not from the view-point of trust, which is internal, and which is based on human nature.

Most of the organizations suffer from leadership crisis as good leaders do not emerge because of rising levels of distrust in the society. In organizations if people learn to trust each other, then leaders will emerge in a natural way. In fact, every person in an organization will be able to develop his potentialities as a leader due to which the organization will grow. The leadership potential of every employee will be developed in such a way that he will love to take initiatives on his own part .Belief in each other will not only develop team-spirit, but will also pave the way to create second, or third wrung of leaders who can be groomed to take over the leadership mantle when the person at the top retires. Trust will make the organizational hierarchies redundant

The trust level in the society has gone down to such an extent because of materialistic culture, and the  general cynicism for the political system that it takes time for people to develop trust in a leader. The trust in Anna as a leader who  successfully  led democratic protest movement against corruption was mainly because he espoused a cause of national concern without any political motive. Absence of trust in the politicians of the country is the prime reason why few leaders have   a mass appeal, or a distinct charisma, which is the stamp of a good political leader. The cynical atmosphere of distrust is such that real trust develops in the political leaders only when .people see the results of   definite development initiatives undertaken by the leaders. The striking examples of Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, and Mr Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat are noteworthy in this regard as they   created huge trust amongst the people because of their work.

The unsung heroes who are  involved in developmental work in the country, and who have led by example in creating a definite social impact also generate a lot of trust amongst the people. They are the leaders who strike a deep chord with the people’s hearts in their communities through their vision, action and the work they undertake. The Times Social Impact Awards rightly awarded these unsung heroes recently.

We need strong leadership in all walks of life, so that the country surges ahead. For this there has to be a genuine trust-building movement in which the people undertake sincere initiatives to build up bonds of trust with each other so that they create  a conducive atmosphere to develop themselves as leaders. If this happens, people will not have to depend on leaders to get the things moving. The leaders who occupy the offices can succeed only if they show substantial results through their work which can evoke trust from the people. In short ,trust is vital for leadership revolution