The Most Valuable Question of Trust

Toolie Garner, CEO of Remote Leadership Success

It can be beneficial to have a question always ready to ask ourselves that we can trust will provide insight and guidance that lead us to making smart decisions, better decisions, our best decisions.

These questions can vary depending on the individual, their experiences, goals and other needs. What can prove helpful to people is learning of other people’s questions, to act as a catalyst to stimulate our own thinking; in other words, to act as fire starter for the mind.

Toolie Garner, CEO
Remote Leadership Success

MVQ: "How can I get this person to trust me?"

Why: “When consultants start to work with clients, especially executives, the power dynamic can be challenging. Everywhere else, they're the boss: when they work with me, it requires a more equal footing.

“As a consultant, I am responding to the executive's desire for change, either for themselves or for their teams, but they will not be ready to make those changes without a sense that they can trust that I will handle properly the information they tell me.

“So my most important question going into this kind of executive coaching or corporate consulting is, ‘how can I get this person to trust me?’”

“Helping remote leaders be successful is largely based on helping ‘transactional’ managers become real leaders instead so that their teams can function remotely, and be both productive and effective.

“There is some vulnerability required to make that transition. That trust is the basis for all the steps to follow.”