A client recently asked me what he needed to do to earn his teams trust. He told me, like so many before, he wants a team to “run through the wall” for him. My reply to him was he really doesn’t what to know. He persisted. Here’s what I told him. Extrapolate to you and your leadership…
Alexander the Great conquered the known world. He also staved off a mutiny when his army had had enough during a campaign in India. He called a huddle, so to speak, and stripped naked – talk about getting vulnerable!
“These scars on my body were got for you, my brothers. Every wound, as you see, is in the front. Let the man stand forth from your ranks who has bled more than I, or endured more than I for your sake. Show him to me, and I will yield to your weariness and go home.” As Pressfield writes in his worthy read, The Warrior Ethos, “Not a man came forward. Instead, a great cheer arose from the army. The men begged their king to forgive them for their want of spirit and pleaded with him only to lead them forward.”
Want a team to run through the walls for you?
Model the Way. (Alexander always rode his war horse at the front and took on the enemy elite) Embrace pain and suffering. (Xerxes watched from the safety of the mountain top; Alexander bled beside his team) Embody truth in LOVE. (STOP using so many words in your speech) Speak truth and discern truth as you listen.
Model the way. Embrace pain and suffering. Embody truth in LOVE. Your team will trust. Deep trust is the catalyst for men/women and the courage required to see an obstacle and see right through it.
Do your words/action shout “Follow me,or, Get going?” Follow me is the one we want…
BUILT TO LEAD 
Good reminder, Toto. Brings a couple quotes to mind…
“I can’t hear what you’re saying because your actions are screaming in my ears.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The most important thing isn’t seeing your team making progress, it’s your team seeing YOU making progress.” — Spiritual Leadership, by Oswald Sanders