Prominent Australian educator Paul Browning faced this situation when the school he led became embroiled in The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Principled draws on Browning’s first-hand experience of navigating an organisation through this highly public ethical crisis and outlines the challenges he faced as a leader. Bringing together evidence-based research and over 20 years of management experience, Paul Browning offers timely advice on the 10 key practices that can help executives build and develop skills to become more trustworthy leaders.
Source: Principled by Paul Browning
Paul Browning’s book Principled explores how trust can be destroyed and subsequently regained. It builds on his PhD and early book Compelling Leadership: The Importance of Trust and How to Get It. The aim is to provide practical advice that can be adopted by any leader wishing to become a more trustworthy leader.
There are ten practices associated with building trust discussed in the book:
- Listening
- Admitting mistakes
- Offering trust
- Consultative decision-making
- Providing affirmation
- Visibility
- Demeanour
- Coaching or Mentoring
- Caring
- Keeping confidences
Each chapter includes an explanation about what the particular practice, how you know when it is not working, and particular tips to help improve in the particular area.
For example, in the chapter on listening, Browning provides the following strategies for getting better:
- Minimise distraction
- Understand body language
- Make eye contact
- Look for emotion
- Listen for the values
- Take notes
- Suspend judgment
- Resist the urge to give advice
- Reflect back for clarification and affirmation
- Keep it timely
All throughout, Browning supports his discussions with concrete examples from his own experience as being principal of St. Pauls.
Principled is a useful book to think about and reflect upon practice at any level of leadership, whether it be capital L or small l. It is also one of those books that you can easily come back to focusing as a reference and guide.
A useful introduction can also be found here.