Joni Saj-nicole A
Harv Bus Rev. 2004 Mar;82(3):82-8, 127.
Leaders who rely forever on the same internal advisers, entrusting them with issues of ever greater sensitivity and consequence, run the risk of being sold short and possibly betrayed. Alternatively, lone-wolf leaders who trust no one may make enormous, yet preventable, mistakes when trying to sort through difficult decisions. A sophisticated understanding of trust can protect leaders from both fates. During the past decade, author and consultant Saj-nicole Joni studied leadership in more than 150 European and North American companies. Her research reveals three fundamental types of trustpersonal trust, expertise trust, and structural trust. Executives may persevere in relationships that are based on personal trust, no matter how exalted their leadership roles become. But such relationships are unlikely to remain static. They also probably won't provide the kinds of deep, often specialized knowledge leaders need. In circumstances where advisers' competence matters as much as their character, expertise trust--reliance on an adviser's ability in a specific subject--enters the picture. In organizations, leaders develop expertise trust by working closely with people who consistently demonstrate their mastery of particular subjects or processes. Structural trust refers to how roles and ambitions influence advisers' perspectives and candor. It shifts constantly as people rise through organizations. High-level structural trust can provide leaders with pure insight and information--but advisers in positions of the highest structural trust generally reside outside organizations. These advisers provide leaders with insights that their organizations cannot. High-performing leaders' most enduring--and most valuable--relationships are characterized by enormous levels of all three kinds of trust.
那些永远依赖同一批内部顾问，将越来越敏感且重要的问题托付给他们的领导者，有被低估甚至背叛的风险。另一方面，不信任任何人的独狼式领导者在试图梳理艰难决策时，可能会犯下巨大但可避免的错误。对信任有深刻的理解可以使领导者避免这两种命运。在过去十年中，作家兼顾问萨吉 - 妮可·乔尼研究了150多家欧洲和北美公司的领导力。她的研究揭示了三种基本的信任类型——个人信任、专业知识信任和结构信任。高管们可能会坚守基于个人信任的关系，无论他们的领导角色多么崇高。但这种关系不太可能保持不变。它们也可能无法提供领导者所需的那种深入的、通常是专业的知识。在顾问的能力与其品德同样重要的情况下，专业知识信任——对顾问在特定领域能力的依赖——就会发挥作用。在组织中，领导者通过与那些始终展示出对特定主题或流程精通的人密切合作来建立专业知识信任。结构信任指的是角色和抱负如何影响顾问的观点和坦诚程度。随着人们在组织中晋升，它会不断变化。高度的结构信任可以为领导者提供纯粹的见解和信息——但处于最高结构信任地位的顾问通常在组织之外。这些顾问为领导者提供其组织无法提供的见解。高效能领导者最持久且最有价值的关系的特点是这三种信任都达到了极高的程度。
