Negotiation; establishing trust; getting off to a good start - three crucial skills for any leader...

In his first few days in office David Cameron has taught us several lessons in leadership: first in negotiating; second in establishing trust; and third the importance of getting off to a good start.

The initial exchanges in any negotiation invariably set the tone of what follows; the approach of one party will be matched by the other. If you start off with hostility and anger, then that will be the response that will be elicited from the other team. The Tory leader’s striking remark about a ‘big, open and comprehensive offer’ to the Liberal Democrats made it clear that his approach would be flexible and open-minded. This established that he was serious in reaching an agreement that would accommodate the Lib Dems’ views.

He has also shown how important it is to establish trust quickly. There are different types of trust: cognitive and affective. The former refers to having confidence in other peoples’ abilities - and by personally praising the competence of the Lib Dem cabinet members, he makes it quite clear that he sees them as highly credible individuals who are deserving of his, and our, respect. Cognitive trust can be established quite quickly, and it is important that this happens in the early stages of team formation. The Prime Minister has ensured that this is more likely to happen with the generous and authentic-sounding descriptions of his new colleagues. Deeper trust or affective trust is more emotional in nature and is based on a shared sense of values, motivation and commitment. When this occurs, when you know that your colleagues can be totally relied upon; then a real team is formed. Time will tell whether he can achieve this in the long run. But for now, he is making all the right moves.

The third thing he has done is to roll up his sleeves and be seen to be getting down to the job. He is visible, energetic and excited. In other words, he is telling us that the scale of the task doesn’t daunt him. Creating a positive first impression is always a good idea - numerous studies have shown that where two people have performed equally overall on a number of tasks, those that had the better start were rated as being better.

A highly effective beginning from the new Prime Minister and some useful lessons of leadership can be taken from it.

Professor Binna Kandola OBE
www.pearnkandola.com