Radical Trust: How Today’s Great Leaders Convert People to Partners
By Joe Healey
Wiley, 2007
Radical Trust is about building trust within the management relationship. It is the idea that a manager can be vulnerable, always holds himself accountable, and does not have to lose his or her temper to manage.
Author Joe Healey uses a step-by-step process to explain his concept and uses well-developed examples from different businesses to make his point. He breaks radical trust into four categories:
- Character Trust is what you do and is the foundation for all trust.
- Execution Trust means that people can rely on your ability to execute.
- Communication Trust is what you say and how you say it.
- Loyalty Trust is how your employees give their loyalty to you.
For business practitioners who have not been exposed to this kind of management, Radical Trust is a must-read. Healey uses a crisp and active writing style that makes it interesting as well as informative and he references other works that I have found valuable, such as Good to Great[1] by Jim Collins.
As a consultant, I am always recommending books to my clients who are new to management or are interested in trying new styles of managing. In my opinion, Healey captures the essence of what it takes in today’s world to maintain an organization and the valuable people who make it up. If you are looking for a straightforward management book that offers practical ways of communicating and working with trust, I recommend Radical Trust.
[1] Jim Collins. Good to Great: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, (Collins, 2001).
