Trust Me

Let’s get back to the basics.

In recent years the world has been rocked by catastrophic business failures. The problem isn’t obsolete factories, backward technology, complicated logistics, or an indifferent workforce. The problem is leaders who don’t follow the principles proven to build success.

In Trust Me: Developing a Leadership Style People Will Follow, two expert business leaders call today’s emerging leaders – including you – back to the basics. They focus on the timeless principles derived from the teaching of the greatest leader of all time.

Rediscover the time-tested, positive principles that will work in any leadership situation – in a major corporation, a small business, a volunteer situation, or a church group… any context in which you are asked to lead.

The Trust Me principles will give you a direct path to becoming a leader people will follow, including:

—Understanding your leadership style and how it affects performance
—Developing a sense of passion and focus for your teammates and the organization
—Applying the Spiral of Change to the organization
—Embracing the importance of helping others succeed
—Realizing the importance of becoming an enduring leader
—Dissolving fear and progress forward as a Trust Me leader

Why ‘Trust Me’?

Because it all starts with trust. And it all starts with you.

Following the eight simple yet powerful principles outlined in this book will enable you to develop trust in yourself, trust in other people, and trust within your team. Building trust will set you on the path to great leadership and a growing, sustainable business.

The result: healthy organizations that grow future leaders.

The 8 Trust Me Principles

Qualities of a Trust Me Leadership Style

Humility
“Favored are those not full of themselves” – the leaders who are open and teachable… and invite the same qualities in others.

Developer
“Favored are the realists” – the leaders who accept the truth and know how to train others to seize the benefits of adversity, loss, and change.

Commitment
“Favored are the steadfast” – the leaders who know that reaching a greater good requires a firm grip on the right values, causes, and goals.

Focus
“Favored are the desperate for excellence” – the leaders who do the right things, at the right time, in the right way.

Compassion
“Favored are the caring” – the leaders who serve the needs of everyone in their organization.

Integrity
“Favored are those with good motives” – the leaders who hold high moral values regardless of personal cost.

Peace Making
“Favored are those calming the waters”– the leaders who stay steady in storms and build teams that stick together.

Endurance
“Favored are the graceful when under attack” – the leaders who overcome personal doubts and setbacks to courageously stay the course.

What Others are Saying about Trust Me

With all the political folderol we are subjected to these days, I’d like to present a book on trust, one that could help us make decisions. A warning … this book is designed to make you think; but then that’s a necessary task for learning, isn’t it? That said, the lessons taught in the 8 sections are flawlessly presented as workable tools for success. What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader would you want to work for? Exploring of the leadership traits of humility, development, commitment, focus, compassion, integrity, peacemaking, and endurance is well done. I especially like the way Ron and Wayne start sections with a comprehensive overview of the section title. For example, when talking about humility, the first thing we learn is that to be ‘humble’ means to be well grounded, a person who sticks to the basics, and is truthful in every aspect. On page 226 there is a phrase that every parent, employer, and – well – everyone, should frame on their bathroom mirror: “If we do not let go, we make prisoners of ourselves.” This is a well-written book and it should be on your current reading shelf. I give it 4 1/2 stars. (Only the Bible and the Constitution get six.)

Paul Tulenko, Ph.D – MBA
Publisher: Small Business Success E-News
Tulenko Success Group
& Syndicated Small Business Scripps-Howard Columnist

Ron Potter understands that effective leaders need to fully appreciate the role emotional intelligence plays in the interpersonal relationships that are so important to employee morale and business success in the workplace.

Artie Byrd
Vise President, Kellogg’s (retired)

I am a career professional educator (40+ years), with most of that in administrative capacities as principal and athletic director at the secondary and university levels. Recently I received and read Trust Me by Potter and Hastings. I can truthfully say that my perception of leadership has been dramatically altered by reading and re-reading the concepts presented by these gifted authors. Many of the principles were familiar and just required some brushing up in order to be fully applicable. Others were like ‘manna from Heaven’ (why hadn’t I thought of that?!?). I enthusiastically encourage anyone involved in leadership to acquire and read Trust Me today.

“Nord” (John) Nordlinger I
Retired School Administrator

Trust Me teaches leaders at all levels how to be effective by being compassionate, but firm, flexible but tenacious, and humble but confident.

William Sigmund II, M.D.
Vice President, GlaxoSmithKline

When I started my career as a physician, I had no idea that managing my employees would be so much harder than caring for my patients. My medical training had prepared me to be a clinician and a healer, but I didn’t have the slightest idea about how to be a leader. In Trust Me, Ron Potter and Wayne Hastings reveal the eight characteristics that every leader must have to earn the trust and support of his or her staff, team, or organization. Writing with compassion and wisdom, Potter and Hastings give readers the information and inspiration they need to develop these characteristics. I was relieved to learn that I didn’t have to be ruthless, devious, or bossy to be a good boss. Using the techniques I learned in Trust Me, I find that I’m not only a better, leader, I’m also a better person. Great book!

Reviewer: A reader from Kingsport, TN

Having read a number of management-style books over the years, I always found it was a bit like panning for gold to find the nugget that could be applied. Until now, I had not read one where the concepts were so clearly presented, and where every principle was significant, and I could embrace them as aligning with my own concept of leadership style, both professionally and personally. As Potter and Hastings present, these can’t be separated. The leadership concepts are well described, and argument convincing. The style of summarizing the main points of at the end of each chapter, a Bible study approach providing questions to reflect on how to apply in one’s life, and applicable quotes and entertaining stories from their experiences to support the points, make for enjoyable reading, and easy reference. The book is not just for business executives, it has application to all who represent the company. The concept of humility and endurance as they describe them are the kingpins of how we want our company to be known, and represented. The book will be recommended reading for our commercial team; even though some don’t have other company people for whom they are responsible, they represent us, are responsible for themselves, and families, and will learn from the work of Hastings and Potter.

Gordon Gustafson
Independent Supply Chain Consultant