Things Leaders Do

The Leadership Cycle: Building Trust, Relationships, and Influence for Effective Leadership

• Colby Morris

Share episode

The Leadership Cycle: Building Trust, Relationships, and Influence for Effective Leadership

Episode Summary

Discover how trust, relationships, and influence form a powerful cycle that drives leadership success. In this episode, Colby Morris unpacks John Maxwell’s quote, “Leadership is influence,” and introduces the leadership cycle: trust builds relationships, and relationships earn influence. With actionable tools and real-world examples, you’ll learn how to motivate your team and lead effectively.

What You’ll Learn

  • Proven leadership strategies to spark team motivation.
  • How to build trust and earn influence with team motivation techniques.
  • Why generic leadership fails—and how to use custom leadership approaches.
  • The leadership cycle: trust → relationships → influence.

Key Takeaways

  1. Motivation is Personal: Use leadership tools like asking great questions to unlock your team’s drive.
  2. Influence is Earned: Adapt to your team’s needs and explain the ‘why’ to gain trust.
  3. Customize Your Leadership: Tailor your style for maximum impact on each team member.

Real Stories, Real Impact

  • Jordan’s Turnaround: A drifting employee becomes a leader when Colby taps into his need for mastery.
  • Sarah’s Data Win: A skeptical analyst buys into a system after a numbers-based pitch.
  • Mike’s Comeback: A top performer rebounds when given room to own his process.

Leadership Moves (Try One This Week!)

  • Tool #1: Ask a team member, “What drives you?”
  • Tool #2: Tweak your approach to match someone’s style.
  • Tool #3: Ask, “Does my leadership work for you?”

Why It Matters

Leadership isn’t a title—it’s action. This episode gives you practical leadership strategies to build trust, strengthen relationships, and earn influence for real results.

FAQ: Leadership Cycle Explained

  • What is the leadership cycle?
    It’s the process where trust builds relationships, and relationships earn influence—the core of effective leadership.
  • How does trust impact leadership?
    Trust is the foundation. Without it, relationships weaken, and influence disappears.

Connect with Colby

  • LinkedIn: Colby Morris
    • https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/
  • Website: nxtstepadvisors.com (N-X-T, no E)
  • Want Colby to speak or coach? Hit him up on LinkedIn or the website.

Challenge

Try one tool this week. Did it build trust or boost influence? Share your story in the comments or on LinkedIn with Colby.

Subscribe & Share

Loved this? Subscribe and share it with a leader who needs it. Let’s move leadership forward!


Speaker 1:

Welcome to Things Leaders Do, the podcast that uncovers the secrets of becoming an extraordinary leader. If you're a leader who's constantly seeking growth, inspiration and tangible ways to level up your leadership, then you've come to the right place. Remember, the world needs exceptional leaders, and that leader is you. Now here's your host, colby Morris is you.

Speaker 2:

Now here's your host, colby Morris. Hello leaders, and welcome back to the TLD Podcast. I'm Colby Morris and leadership isn't about titles, it's about actions. I've led from the trenches to the top and I'm here with practical, no BS tools you can use today. I want to start today with a truth bomb from John Maxwell. He says leadership is influence. But here's the catch it's not a freebie. You don't get to just walk in and lead. There's a cycle to earning it. You don't get to lead me until I have a relationship with you, and I don't have a relationship with you until I trust you and trust well, that's the foundation everything's built on. Influence flows from relationships and relationships grow from trust. Miss that and, believe me, you're stuck.

Speaker 2:

So today we're unpacking three tools to master this cycle. Tools to motivate your team, influence them right and lead them how they need it. Does that make sense? Every step builds trust, it strengthens relationships and it earns you the influence to lead like a champ. So let's dive in.

Speaker 2:

Tool number one motivation is personal. You got to find their drive. See, motivation isn't one size fits all. It's personal, like a custom playlist, your job. You got to crack their code, because if you don't know what fires them up. You're not leading, you're guessing, and guessing doesn't cut it in the trust department. So here's how to unlock it. First, ask real questions hey, what's the best part of your gig? What's the best part of your job? What makes you feel unstoppable? Those answers will be your roadmap. And then kind of watch their vibes. When do they perk up? What tasks do they really own? See, that's their spark. And then three you need to know their currency. Some people want props in public, some people that would kill them inside. Others crave autonomy. Some need to see the impact they're making. If you can match it, that's where trust kicks in.

Speaker 2:

Jordan was a solid performer I had, but checked out coasting. I tried the usual, you know, more praise, pat on the back crickets. So I sat him down and I asked hey, what drives you? He looked at me and just said mastery, mastery, I want to dominate in what I do. That was it. So we put him on revamping our client onboarding process. That was a mess of a project that was eating up time and it was frustrating everyone. He turned it into a streamlined machine. He cut onboarding time by 30%. Six months later, he's not just owning his role, he's leading initiatives and training others. That trust is what turned it around.

Speaker 2:

Here's how it ties to the cycle. When you figure out what motivates someone, you show them that you get them. That's what builds trust. Trust fuels the relationship, and a strong relationship. Well, that's your ticket to influence.

Speaker 2:

Step one of the cycle, locked in your leadership move. I want you to book a one-on-one this week with whatever your direct report is and say, hey, what drives you? And then I want you to listen, like really listen. All right. Tool.

Speaker 2:

Number two influence is earned, not assumed. Look, a title gets you a desk, maybe a parking spot, but not influence. Okay, that's earned through actions, not assumed with a handshake. And the cycle says it starts with trust. Without it, your, your words, just bounce off. Here's how you earn it. You have to adapt to them.

Speaker 2:

Data nerd bring stats, team player, stats, team player show the group win, meet them where they're at. Two sell the why. If you say, do this, that's weak. Here's why it matters to us. That's what sticks Purpose, trumps, commands. And then three give first. Give first. Influence isn't a grab, it's a give and take. If you invest in them, they'll lean in.

Speaker 2:

Here's the story. Sarah was our, what I call our data queen. She was sharp, skeptical and not here for the fluff. We were rolling out a new performance tracking system and without her buy-in the team would have pushed back hard my usual big vision pitch. That was a total flop. She wasn't buying it. She wasn't buying the hype. So I switched gears. I brought her the numbers how it'd save time, boost accuracy, make her job easier. She looked at the data and said now we're talking, but why didn't you lead with this? She didn't just get on board, she became the system's biggest advocate. She helped the whole team adopt it smoothly. That influence clicked when I spoke her language. Why is that tied to the cycle? Well, adapting and explaining the why shows you respect them. That builds trust. Trust deepens the relationship and from there your influence grows.

Speaker 2:

Cycle two nailed. Here's your leadership move. I want you to pick someone who's been resisting you, tweak your pitch to their style and see what shifts. All right. Tool number three customize your relationship. I'm sorry, your leadership approach. Customize your leadership approach.

Speaker 2:

Generic leadership that is for amateurs. You've got to lead people how they need it, not how you like it. But they won't let you and they won't let you in unless they trust you and that you see them for real. Trust is what opens that door. Here's how to nail it. Number one learn their wiring. Okay, do a disc, test a Myers-Briggs or just simply pay attention. What do they need from you? And then two tailor it. Some want structure, others they need space. Some they love check-ins, others not so much. You have to fit the glove. And then three stay current. People evolve. This one is hard for leaders, but at some point you have to ask hey, how can I lead you better? Right, you just kind of cringe a little bit inside, but a real leader needs to know this and wants to know this. You have to keep it fresh.

Speaker 2:

I had a top performer we'll call him Mike who just started slipping. He was leading our biggest client account. There were high stakes, tight deadlines, but the pressure was crushing him. I thought he was burned out, so I hovered, checking in constantly. That was a bad move. He snapped I need room to run this my way, okay, okay. So I backed off. I gave him space. I trusted his process. He not only met the deadline, but blew the client away with extra deliverables. They didn't even ask for that lesson.

Speaker 2:

You have to customize or crash. How does that tie to the cycle? Well, if you're tailoring your style, that proves you've tuned into them. That builds trust. Trust strengthens the relationship. Are you seeing this cycle? And a solid relationship hands you influence. The cycle would then be complete.

Speaker 2:

So here's your leadership move for this week. Ask one person hey, does my style work for you? And then shut up and listen. You need to know. So what's next? I want you to pick one tool Okay, motivation, influence, customization and just test it this week. Okay, leadership's a cycle. Trust builds relationships. Relationships earn influence. Okay, leadership's a cycle. Trust builds relationships. Relationships earn influence. Okay, these tools power that cycle. If you start with trust, the rest is going to follow. Hey, if this lit you up, I'm here for more. I speak, I run workshops and coach leaders to dominate in real time. You can hit me up on LinkedIn or check nextstepadvisorscom. That's N-X-T, no E. Let's make leadership that moves, that changes. If you love this, subscribe, share it with a leader who needs it and tell me how you're owning this trust game. Subscribe, share it with a leader who needs it and tell me how you're owning this trust game Until next time. Lead with trust, lead with influence, and you know why.

Speaker 1:

Because those are the things that leaders do. Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do. If you're looking for more tips on how to be a better leader, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to next week's episode. Until next time, keep working on being a better leader by doing the things that leaders do.